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OTTUMWA, IOWA -- Possibly the biggest news out of Ottumwa during Tuesday’s elections is the fact that the city of bridges will have a new mayor.

Challenger Frank Flanders defeated incumbent mayor Dale Uehling by just 126 votes.  Flanders earned 1924 votes and Uehling earned 1798.  Uehling defeated Flanders by just 380 votes in 2009.

Flanders has already sat down with city administrator Joe Helfenberger.  One idea Flanders wants to see is a ward-system for city council.

“That's one thing we're looking at, in a way to get more possible voter participation and more public participation,” Flanders said.  “I'll be of course making some board appointments that will be getting some new faces there too

Flanders says he hopes to sit down soon with mayor Uehling.

“He congratulated me and I told him that I’d like to meet with him sometime to ease the transition so we’ll see what happens.”

Mayor Uehling has been mayor since 1994 before he was defeated by Van Gates in 2002 and then re-elected in 2004.

John Richards and Mitch Niner will be on the Ottumwa City Council come 2012.  Niner, an incumbent beat out fellow incumbent Keith Caviness and challenger Denny Whitson.  Richards hasn't been on city council since 1992.  Richards appreciates all the hard work that mayor Uehling has done for the city but is excited to work with Frank Flanders.

“Nobody in the world can doubt [Dale Uehling’s] dedication to the city and the amount of time that the man put in,” Richards said.  “The citizens chose a young man, Frank Flanders, who is an extremely intelligent and I think people grow into roles that they take.”