Feb. 25—Euclid’s Ward 3 came together on Feb. 21 for their first ward meeting under Councilperson Dontea Gresham, who was elected last year to replace Marcus Epps, who ran a failed mayoral campaign instead of seeking reelection to council.

The meeting was held at the Rolexxx Ultimate Entertainment Complex, 24900 Euclid Ave., a night club for those in their 40s and over. The event had several speakers, including Fallon Marie Radigan who is running to be judge for Common Pleas Court, and Angel Washington who is running to represent Ohio’s District 21.

Gresham, who at 31 is the youngest member of Euclid City Council, said that he wants to join forces across the wards to tackle problems that affect not only those in his ward, but in the whole city.

“As I said during my (campaign) I want to move Ward 3 into its next era,” Gresham said. “I want to make sure we are more connected, more unified, more transparent with our residents. Not only that but for residents to be more active and united as well, maybe encouraging more City Council meetings to make sure that residents can put more input in what they want to see in their community and also around the city of Euclid.”

Former Euclid Councilperson Kandace Jones told the crowd that she was at the event because she wanted to see the ward come together to solve problems that Euclid has been facing since she was in the position.

Gresham was a precinct leader before being elected councilperson. He studied at Morehouse College in Atlanta and Cleveland State University and has a background in hydroponic agriculture as a supervisor for the HELP Foundation. He formerly worked at the United States District Attorney’s Office.

He said that he wants to see more active spaces for youth to spend time in, and he wants to tackle littering. Litter was one issue raised at the meeting with one resident expressing concern over the amount of dog waste in her residential area.

Gresham says he wants to see more collaboration to fix the growing issue.

“I want to make sure the parks and recreation facilities within Ward 3 are taken care of,” Gresham said. “Not only that, but city wide, I hope to see the new recreation center built so they have something to do.

“I also want to take on littering in our city. It’s not only a Ward 3 problem but a whole city problem. We also see it at the national level where people are littering and not taking into consideration how that affects our environment and how it harms our ecosystem.”

He said that he wants to form new groups, including block watch groups, so that residents can help bring a new vision to Ward 3.

“I want people to come and gather together and then connect together,” Gresham said. “Because if we all connect together I feel like our community will be a better community to bring us all into the next era.”