South Salt Lake ousted an incumbent mayor Tuesday night, but many other Salt Lake east-side suburbs kept their mayors around for another four years

South Salt Lake Mayor Wes Losser lost his post to challenger Bob Gray, who won 1,101 votes to 822. Gray, a former police chief who campaigned by focusing on South Salt Lake's public safety employees, said that he planned to bring community policing back to South Salt Lake with the philosophy that focuses on communication between residents and police officers.

"I think the citizens stood up and told us what they wanted," Gray said. "I'm elated."

Losser attributed his ousting to misinformation and what he perceived to be a one-issue campaign on Gray's part.

"People are funny, they're not very diverse here," Losser said Tuesday night. "They'd rather go with the one-issue person and they've made their choice, so what can I say? That's what the country's about. That's our system."

Draper Mayor Darrell Smith won a second term in office and defeated challenger Summer Pugh nearly 3-to-1. Smith, who has lived in Draper his entire life, campaigned on Draper's growth over the past years, asking residents to support him if they supported the way Draper had grown.

"They gave me that kind of confidence — I have to give them something in return," Smith said. "I want to be a good listener. I want to listen to the concerns of the people and their neighborhoods, to try to get out more than I have been."

Pugh, a longtime resident activist, said the city isn't managing its growth ethically. While disappointed with Tuesday's results, she said would continue to be involved in Draper politics. Pugh has sat on the planning commission and was chairwoman of a community council before the city disbanded the councils earlier this year.

Midvale residents sent unopposed candidates back to office. Mayor Joann Seghini will take another term; District Four Councilman Wayne Sharp and District Five Councilwoman Colleen Costello will head to office.

Alta elected its first new mayor in three decades. Tom Pollard, who ran unopposed, took over the office from Bill Levitt, who is retiring from the ski town's politics. Incumbent councilmen Bill Lennon and Paul T. Moxley returned to office, beating out challenger Craig Victor Dillon by hundreds of votes.

Holladay sent an unopposed, incumbent mayor back to office; Dennis Webb will serve four more years. District One City Councilman Grant Orton returns for another term after running unopposed, and Patricia Pignanelli won the District Three council seat, beating out Christopher Jensen 416 to 281.

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E-mail: kswinyard@desnews.com