OTTUMWA — Voters in Ottumwa agreed on two opposing viewpoints Tuesday: Young newcomers could be effective leaders — and experience is important.

Two of the Ottumwa City Council seats were won by Brian Morgan and Jeremy Weller, two working fathers who competed for a citywide election for the first time; the third seat went to incumbent Councilman Bob Meyers, a retired educator.

Earlier in the election season, some of the younger candidates reported hearing of voter fears over “inexperience” and a lack of time to do the necessary work for a council position.

“Youth wins,” said Morgan after the votes came in. “I think the people of Ottumwa have spoken, and they’re looking for a new direction.”

But he said he’s ready to work with the incumbents.

“I look forward to working with Bob. I think over the past couple of months, we’ve developed a mutual respect for each other,” Morgan said.

Meyers said he’s ready to get back to work, and though being retired means he has time to devote to council business, he never said younger people with families could not do the job effectively. He just had hoped the newcomers running for office understood there was a lot of real work to do.

“To their credit, I really think Brian and Jeremy do understand that,” he said.

The work Weller is most anxious to get to?

“Working on the city budget,” he said. “With the state cuts, we’re going to have to be tight. We’ve got to be realistic. There’s going to be cuts, but we need to maintain a good level of service.”

To do that, he said, the council should consult city department heads before making their decisions.

“One thing I understand is, we’re not going to make everybody happy,” Weller said.

Meyers said he’s learned the same thing in his four years on the city council.

“Going in, I already knew there were two sides to every issue. But as a councilman, I learned there’s a lot more than two sides to every issue,” he said.

Meyers received the most votes of the six council candidates with 2,695 votes.