When a resident is trying to track down an answer to questions about Brownstown — from finding out where to vote to getting minutes from the last board meeting — the place to start is the clerk's office and Clerk Sherry A. Berecz-Burton.

Perhaps the most important function of the clerk's office, of course, is to run local, state and national election and now school district elections within the township's boundaries.

And with nearly 18,000 registered voters, that would be quite a tall order — but the story doesn't end there: The department not only keeps track of registered voters for its own purposes, but also must keep records for the Gibraltar, Woodhaven/Brownstown and Taylor school districts.

In addition, the department must recruit poll workers for each election and prepare each election ballot.

Also, absentee voter applications have to be mailed — and, of course, those votes have to be tallied on Election day after everything else is done.

Multiply this effort by the number of elections run in a given year — local, state, national, school district, special — and you get an idea of how much work is involved.

Still, the role of the office doesn't begin and end with elections. If you want to have garage sale in Brownstown, you head to the clerk's office to get a permit. If you want a stop sign on your street, call the clerk to get petition information.

The department serves as an information base for area residents. The administrative arm of the department prepares legal notices, Board of Trustees agendas, keeps meeting minutes as well as all board resolutions and codifies all local ordinances. It also issues permits to some businesses.

Finally, the accounting arm oversees all purchase orders, processes invoices, completes disbursements, prepares financial records for audit, handles the payroll and yearly financial statements for all community employees and processes all municipal and employee insurances.

The Clerk is assisted in her duties by the Deputy Clerk.

About our Clerk

Clerk Sherry Berecz-Burton was elected to the Board of Trustees in 1992 and was elected clerk in 2000.

A lifelong resident of Brownstown Township, she earned a bachelor’s degree from Madonna University and is employed by the Wayne County Department of Children and Family Services.  She is a member of Our Lady of the Woods Catholic Church and is a past member of the Woodhaven-Brownstown Rotary Club.

Berecz-Burton is affiliated with the International Institute of Municipal Clerks, the Michigan Municipal clerks and is a member of the Wayne County Clerks Association.  She also serves on the Wayne County Election Scheduling commission and is currently an accredited election official.

She previously served on the Election Commission, the Historical Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals.

About our Deputy Clerk

Bio coming soon!