'Sometimes when you move fast, you’ve got to take two steps back. So building more time for me and my leadership team to reflect and to get feedback around critical decisions is, I think, one of the important early lessons.” - Bibb
The leaf debacle, Bibb said, taught him to get more feedback earlier in the process of weighing potential policies.
Becoming mayor has changed Bibb’s personal life, he said. He lost his grandmother in 2022, sees less of his family and friends, and doesn’t make it to church with his mother as often as he’d like. “It’s lonelier,” Bibb said. “It’s been a hard year.” “Before I became mayor, I spent over 15 years working in the private sector. I’ve always had jobs that required me to be bold and impatient, and move urgently. In my first year [as mayor] I’ve learned that sometimes when you move fast, you’ve got to take two steps back. So building more time for me and my leadership team to reflect and to get feedback around critical decisions is, I think, one of the important early lessons.”.
While far from a single-issue mayoral candidate, Bibb was the only one who supported Issue 24 to give civilians much greater oversight over Cleveland police, and he rode to victory on the same voter wave that delivered police reform.