And then there were five.

Five candidates have filed for one of three available seats on the Junction City Commission. The latest to file for candidacy include Michael A. Morris and Lawrence “Larry” Ruiz.

Morris retired from the Army in 2012 after 26 years of service. He says he wants to work toward improvements in the City.

“I’d like to help our city become better and better; it’s already good and it can get better and that’s what I’m looking for,” said Morris. “[I want] to work on building better relations with the communities around us – Fort Riley, Manhattan – we’re a good city, but we can be great.”

Ruiz, with years of experience as a small business owner and consultant, said he’s disappointed that Commissioners are seemingly “jumping ship.”

“I read [in the news] where three Commissioners were not running again and I was very disturbed to the core,” said Ruiz. “These are men that worked hard and put a lot into their vision and what they wanted to see happen in Junction City, and they basically started building a tower and got half way through it and then bailed out for whatever reason.”

Both candidates – Morris and Ruiz – are amongst the latest to enter the race for City Commission where there are three seats up for election.

Other candidates include Heinrich Biggs, Jarrod Toothman, and John-Charles Silva.

The filing deadline is Thursday, June 1st at noon.