CLEVELAND — Cleveland's Mayor-elect Justin Bibb took the official oath of office inside his childhood library on Cleveland’s East Side.
The midnight ceremony took place at the Cleveland Public Library East 131st Street branch. You can watch it in the player below:
Tom Sutton serves as a political science professor at Baldwin Wallace University and watched closely as this nonprofit executive won with nearly 63% of the vote in November.
“You have Justin Bibb who went from political unknown to winning the primary and winning the race,” the News 5 political analyst explained. “It’s one thing being a candidate, it’s another to actually be mayor. To be mayor walking in with prior experience there’s going to be a testing period.”
Sutton said the biggest tests for Bibb will be how he handles the aging Westside Market infrastructure, as well as Issue 24, which passed in November and opens the door to establish a civilian commission to oversee police discipline.
“Justin Bibb will be tested right out of the gate looking at that issue and deciding how he wants to handle that strategically because the measure passed and he has to implement it,” he said.
“It is something that is somewhat controversial and it is something that he could have shied away from,” NAACP Cleveland Branch President Danielle Sydnor added.
For Sydnor, Bibb comes into office and brings with him a new set of ideas as Cleveland tries to position itself for the future.
“What we're seeing across the country is young leaders that are again continuing to rise up, continuing to look at new ways of doing things, not necessarily throwing out all of the old, but being willing to evaluate what is working, what is not working, not being married to something because that's the way that we've always done it,” she said.
After Sunday's midnight oath of office, Bibb will host a ceremonial swearing in celebration on Jan. 8.
