GALLIPOLIS — Five city residents, including two of the current seat holders, will seek to fill three posts on the Gallipolis City Commission up for grabs this fall.

According to Gallipolis City Auditor Annette Landers, newcomers Paul Covey and Thomas Meadows have filed petitions with the Gallia County Board of Elections, as well as with her office, seeking election as new Gallipolis City Commissioners.

City resident Albert “Tony” Gallagher, who previously ran for a city commission seat in the 2011 general election, is also, once again, seeking to fill one of the three open seats on the five member city commission.

Gallagher, who ran against incumbent Steve Wallis and Mike Brown in 2011, lost the race by less than 50 votes, garnering 310 votes from the city’s populace that year. Brown, who picked up 358 votes and Wallis, who received 584 votes, were the popular choice in 2011, filling the two city commission seats open during that election season and joining commissioners Jay Cremeens, Matt Johnson and Jim Cozza in January 2012.

It will be the seats held by Cremeens, Johnson and Cozza that will be in question this year and current City Commission President Cremeens, and Commissioner Johnson, will run again for their seats, joining Covey, Meadows and Gallagher this year in the campaign for city commission.

Cremeens and Johnson both entered as newly elected commissioners in January 2010 after being the popular choices for city voters in the November 2009 general election.

According to the city auditor, City Commissioner Jim Cozza has chosen not to run for reelection this year.

Cozza was first elected by city voters in 2005 and previously served as the city commission president from 2008-2011.

No primary election will be held this year in relation to the city commission as, according to the Ohio Revised Code, the number of candidates must be double the number of open seats plus one in order for a primary to be necessary, or, in this case, a total of seven candidates must have filed in order for a primary to be held.

As such, Covey, Cremeens, Gallagher, Johnson and Meadows will have until General Election Day on November 5 to become the city’s popular choice for city commissioner.