A new era in Butler County government will begin in January with the swearing-in of Dale Pinkerton and James Lokhaiser, who won commissioner seats in Tuesday's general election. They will add their knowledge, ideas and thinking to those of James Kennedy, who was re-elected to a fourth term.

Kennedy has dealt with the issues currently facing the county, but it remains to be seen how much the two newcomers will agree with how county decision making has been carried out in the past and how unfinished business should be addressed in coming months and years.

Regardless, what must be understood by all three men from the get-go is that the next four years must be a time of moving-forward, not a time of caretaker government in which routine business is transacted but little else takes place.

There is the danger of such a mind-set evolving as major projects such as the new prison and Sunnyview Home renovations are completed, presumably over the next year. But these three leaders must resist any temptation to relax or accept the status quo.

The county's growth is not a done deal — not anywhere near a done deal — and, as such, county leaders will have to continue addressing growth issues.

In Cranberry Township and other parts of the southwestern portion of the county, the issue is managing growth. Elsewhere in the county, it is a lack of growth that is the main concern.

The same is true in county municipalities — the city of Butler and the various boroughs and townships.

In Butler, the voters gave former Councilman Joseph Bratkovich a new vote of confidence in returning him to the city council. The voters also opted to put Fred Reese's experience on the city's redevelopment authority and his business skills to work as a councilman.

Reese is one of the owners of the Monroe Hotel.

Meanwhile Tuesday, Center Township voters gave a vote of confidence to two incumbents, as did Butler Township, in re-electing a longtime supervisor to another term.

A spirited race in Franklin Township over a real estate tax increase last year resulted in a newcomer winning over a candidate who has served the township in a number of capacities over the past 38 years, including supervisor, but who was not an incumbent in Tuesday's contest.

The most disappointing aspect of Tuesday's election was the low registered-voter turnout of about 30 percent. The voters repeated the troubling trend of the last couple of decades in ignoring the so-called off-year balloting — when no state or federal legislative seats are up for grabs.

Next November should be different, with the U.S. presidency and control of Congress — and seats in the Pennsylvania House and Senate — at stake in what most certainly will be a hard-fought campaign.

But for now, in the county and the city, and also in the boroughs and townships and the school districts, the name of the game for Tuesday's successful candidates is to make a positive difference when they begin or resume their service.

These officials should shun the "caretaker" mentality in favor of one focused on leadership and change.