He earned a degree from McMaster University in Hamilton and worked as a secondary school teacher at Pauline Johnson Collegiate.
[2] Neumann supported The Waffle and was part of a group of Brantford-area New Democrats who favoured running party candidates at the municipal level.
He became the city's mayor in 1980, defeating right-wing candidate Andy Woodburn and incumbent Charles Bowen, and was re-elected without serious opposition in 1982 and 1985.
[5] He ran for the Ontario legislature in the 1971 provincial election as a New Democrat, finishing third against Liberal Party leader Robert Nixon in Brant.
In a 1989 interview, he cited a new telecommunications discovery centre, an industrial park, and the completion of Highway 403 as the Peterson government's main achievements for his area.
[11] Neumann resumed his teaching career after leaving political life, retiring from the Brant County Board of Education in 1997.
[12] From 1998 to 2005, Neumann worked as executive director of the Ontario Association of Adult and Continuing Education School Board Administrators (CESBA), based in Brantford.