Three file for Griffith's 5th Ward council seat

Filing has reopened for the 5th Ward council seat, and three residents have already signed up to run.

On the first day of filing, residents Bob Gilbert, Larry D. Henry Jr. and J. Scott Stacey entered the race for the seat previously held by Dave Griffith.

Griffith, who had been the only candidate to file for the 5th Ward seat, resigned from the council and withdrew his name from the ballot last week after being named the new executive director for the American Red Cross Capital Area Chapter. The Red Cross has a policy stating no employee can be an elected official.

But with Griffith's withdrawal from the race, several have signed up to run, saying they did not want to challenge Griffith as they believed he was doing a good job in office.