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Orem Mayor Karen McCandless speaks at Orem's Oath of Office Ceremony Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, at Orem Library Hall.

Kaitlyn Marsh, Orem City

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Orem City Councilwoman LaNae Millett speaks at Orem's Oath of Office Ceremony Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, at Orem Library Hall.

Kaitlyn Marsh, Orem City

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Orem City Councilman Quinn Meacham speaks at Orem's Oath of Office Ceremony Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, at Orem Library Hall.

Kaitlyn Marsh, Orem City

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Orem City Councilwoman Crystal Muhlestein speaks at Orem's Oath of Office Ceremony Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, at Orem Library Hall.

Kaitlyn Marsh, Orem City

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A new era of local politics began Monday and Tuesday as newly elected public officials at municipalities across Utah Valley took oaths of office and began their terms serving as mayors or city council members. 

Among the cities seeing major transformation to public leadership is Orem, which commissioned a new mayor, Karen McCandless, and three City Council members, LaNae Millett, Quinn Mecham and Crystal Muhlestein, at a swearing-in ceremony Monday night.

Each of the public officials withstood a highly contested Orem election cycle to claim their positions. In the mayoral race, McCandless defeated incumbent Dave Young by just 518 votes. With six candidates vying for three City Council seats, there was just a 917-vote difference between the most and least votes received. 

In addresses to the public, McCandless and the council members vowed to represent the whole community in their service. 

“This was a tough campaign,” McCandless said. “The results were close, and they are by no means a mandate. What they are is a reminder that our community is thoughtful, engaged and full of people that care deeply about Orem. That is something that I greatly respect and take very seriously, and I look forward to working with everyone in our community.”

McCandless, who was previously the CEO of Community Action Services and Food Bank, recalled a time when she served for the Habitat for Humanity of Utah County. While there, she did a little bit of everything — from being a family mentor to a member of the build crew — and said from her many experiences, the most important lesson she learned came from the program’s founder, Miller Fuller, who she quoted in saying, “For a community to be whole and healthy, it must be based on people’s love and concern for each other.”

It’s a message she considers to be at the heart of what Orem’s moniker “Family City USA” stands for. She said the city is at its best when the citizens are treating each other like family.

“With care, responsibility and a willingness to show up for each other,” McCandless said.

The community sentiment was carried by the council members, including Muhlestein, who said she ran because she loved the Orem community and said it was her job to represent her constituents well. 

“My new goal is to do this job in the best way I can,” she said. “To listen and to learn, and bring all the information that I have from the perspective of residents, from our amazing city leaders, the employees that work here. … My job is to listen to all of that information and to make the best decision that I can to help lead our city.”

Millett, who will begin her second term on the council, said she comes from a heritage of public servants, and that she does not take her duty in representative government lightly.

“Public service is not about titles. It’s not about elections. It’s not about resumes. It’s about stewardship and it’s about leadership,” she said. “It’s about caring enough about your city and about your neighbors to step up, to listen and to take action to help make Orem a better place.”

Mecham defined being part of a community as being not only responsible for ourselves but for a larger purpose. He said he would work to build a place where everyone can thrive.

“In a community, we have a persistent opportunity to be better off together than we are by ourselves,” he said. “In a community, we understand that we have a shared history and that the past journey that has brought us to the present matters. In a community, we recognize the future isn’t yet written, but that we each have a role to play in writing it.”