He entered Kristiansand city council after the 1999 local elections, became leader of Labour's party group and served the next term 2003–2007 as deputy mayor.
He was described as a typical municipal politician, forging pragmatic cross-party alliances to further the city's progress.
Ugland thus became a central figure behind the scenes in the workings of Norway's sixth largest municipality.
[1][2] In 2003, after Ugland had propped up Jan Oddvar Skisland to become mayor, he was noted nationwide as a proponent of closer relations between Labour and the Christian Democratic Party.
[3] Also, together with Conservative group leader in the city, Tore Austad and chief administrative officer Erling Valvik, Ugland was also a central architect behind Kristiansand municipality's 2000 sale of the power company Agder Energi, and subsequent establishment of the cultural foundation Cultiva.