Liam Dreyer

ALPENA — Liam Dreyer has been into politics since he was 10 years old. Now 16, the Charlevoix teen travels around Michigan urging young people to get involved in local government.

Less than a year ago, he founded Government for Tomorrow, which he talked about last week in Alpena, addressing Alpena Community College students, the Alpena Municipal Council, and the Alpena Downtown Development Authority, among other agencies.

“I’ve been involved in local government since I was 10 years old,” Dreyer said, speaking in front of one of Tim Kuehnlein’s ACC classes. “I started attending city council meetings, and I, kind of, fell in love with the whole process.”

Dreyer is a sophomore at Charlevoix High School.

He explained the purpose of the nonprofit organization, Government for Tomorrow.

“What we do is we create non-voting student positions on local government boards,” Dreyer told the class. “A student position is the opportunity for a high schooler to act as the delegate of the community’s youth voice.”

He asked, “Why does anyone care about these student positions? I think the answer goes back, maybe two years ago, when I was appointed as one of the youngest local government representatives in the country, when I was 14 years old.”

After expressing interest, he was appointed to his local DDA by the city council.

Dreyer said the youth voice is imperative in decision-making, especially at the local level, because all the decisions made there affect their future.

“There are so many benefits to having the youth voice incorporated in the decision-making process,” Dreyer said.

“We believe that having a student position on local government boards gives the community a fresh perspective on city issues,” govfortomorrow.org, states. “It provides the student a valuable education in government operations; it provides the city with a new opinion to consult on decision making.”