Four new Utah County officials took the oath of office Tuesday, kicking off the terms to which they were elected in November.

They are Gary Anderson, county commissioner; Jeff Buhman, county attorney; Robert Kirk, treasurer; and Bryan Thompson, clerk/auditor.

Re-elected officials also were sworn in, including Recorder Randy Covington, Assessor Kris Poulson, Sheriff Jim Tracy and Commissioner Steve White.

After the ceremony, Commissioner Larry Ellertson recognized the officials whose terms ended Dec. 31.

"I want to thank those who have served this county for the last four years and beyond that, in many cases," Ellertson said. And he reminded those who had just been sworn in that the oath also "gives you a license to be sworn at, from what I'm told."

Anderson said he expects to work well with the other members of the Utah County Commission, but that "there need to be some changes."

"We need to change our relationships with the cities and with the Mountainland Association of Governments," he said, echoing his campaign statements. "The county issues that I see are county issues. They're not singular to Utah County or to Provo city or Goshen or anything else.

"We have to be a team, transportation being the obvious example of that."

Buhman expressed similar sentiments and said his office will be more aggressive with cases involving drug dealing and people accused of committing repeat felonies.

"One of the first things we're going to work on is rebuilding our relationships with the police departments," Buhman said. "It's not like we've been doing anything wrong -- just things that we can improve.

"We don't really have to undo anything. It's more a matter of building on what we've already done."

Kirk said the treasurer's office will work on better coordination between county offices as well as increased automation and better positioning of the county's interest-bearing investments.

Those sorts of things don't necessarily garner public interest, he acknowledged.

"That's always the sad part of the jobs that we do," he said. "We can do all kinds of great things. You don't get a lot of pats on the back. It seems like when you do something wrong -- if you ever do -- it's the first thing that's out in the news. That's the nature of the job."

In the clerk/auditor's office, Thompson said one of his main duties is continuing to address any concerns over the county's new electronic voting machines.

"There still seems to be that overall stigma with the election machines and just how secure are they," Thompson said. "We're working on issues with that, continuing to make sure they're secure. ... I have been involved with a lot behind the scenes and even sat in on the audit, and those machines are really secure."

Though the oath -- administered by 4th District Judge Lynn Davis -- is somber and commits the officeholders to supporting the U.S. and Utah constitutions, moments of levity also slipped in.

After Buhman was sworn in, Davis noted that "Jeff has appeared before me numerous times." Laughter rippled across the room before he added, "in a professional capacity."

Davis also referenced the fact that Anderson has served before in a county commissioner's chair and has previously signed an oath of office.

"Gary's signature hasn't changed," Davis said.

Anderson countered with a reference to Davis's bald pate: "Neither has Judge Davis's hair," he said.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.