Elizabeth White McDonnell

Beth has been a municipal attorney for more than 20 years and has a strong background in parliamentary procedure, ordinance and policy drafting, public finance, FOIA, and Open Meetings Act issues. She has extensive experience with issues involving tax tribunal defense, intergovernmental agreements, governmental liability, elections, public pension systems, ethics and conflicts of interest, employee investigations and discipline.

Previously, Beth served as Corporation Counsel for Kalamazoo County and before that she served 15 years in the Grand Rapids City Attorney’s office as Assistant, Deputy, and Interim City Attorney while also serving as Director of Municipal Affairs. She served as counsel to more than 20 city departments, as well as various public boards and commissions, including the pension board, library board, zoning and planning boards, local officer’s compensation commission, civil service board, and historic preservation commission.

Beth has taught and lectured at Grand Rapids Community College and Grand Valley State University and has provided training to municipal employees on topics including Freedom of Information, Open Meetings, Contract Administration, First Amendment Audits, Legal Issues for Housing Inspectors, and Sewer Liability.