MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - At Tuesday's Township Board meeting, Meridian Township Clerk Brett Dreyfus received recognition from members of the Board and was thanked for his years of service, as well as serving the 43,424 residents as Township Clerk.

Clerk Dreyfus leaves office as the ranking member of the Township Board. Dreyfus volunteered his time and he was an active member of the Meridian Township Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Commission prior to being on the Board.

Meridian Township Supervisor Ron Styka spoke and few words, “I have served with Brett Dreyfus for 8 years and know he is a tenacious advocate for his positions and I appreciate that. He has represented his position extremely well, even if he’s not always in the majority, he presents arguments cognately and well, and he will be missed in that regard.”

Brett Dreyfus thanked the Board for presenting his recognition and says it means a lot to him and wanted to speak about a few key highlights and wanted to leave the community and the Board with with a message.

“It was my pleasure and personal honor to serve the residents and citizens of Meridian Township over the past 20 years. In 1999 I started with the Planning Commission and was also involved with the Zoning Board of Appeals, and eventually elected to the Township Board as a Trustee in 2008. In 2012, I didn’t think I was going to continue on, but the way with timing in life works. Politics has a lot to do with timing. Things you have control over and things you don’t have control over," Dreyfus said. "Life did take a wonderful turn and opportunity for me to serve as Clerk in 2012. The first Democratic Clerk in 60 years in Meridian. It was amazing and exciting and the last 8 years have been interesting, intense, exciting, disappointing. A whole range of emotions comes in being in this role."

Dreyfus’s message was also to people who felt like they didn’t have a voice in government and people that have never really dealt with government before in the Township and have contacted him and was very gratified to try to help people in the community.

“I welcome Deborah Guthrie as new clerk. I wish her well, success in her role, confident to lead the office in the right direction and it’s in capable hands in the future. Welcome aboard," Dreyfus said. "I want to thank the citizens of Meridian Township and everybody I have worked with both internally and externally and I personally have learned much. I've grown and evolved on many levels and for that I will be eternally grateful. When I tell everybody who takes the sacred oath I’ve been giving for years I say: Go forth and do good.”

The Township Board of Meridian and Ingham County, MI commemorates Brett Dreyfus and celebrates his many contributions to the community.

You can watch the full video on HOMTV's Youtube Channel.