Lane County Commissioner David Loveall settled an ethics complaint with a state commission Sept. 11, capping off an investigation over whether he unlawfully promoted his business as a public official.
The commission voted unanimously to approve the agreement. Loveall agreed to receive a letter of education and submitted new financial disclosures to settle the case.
Loveall has served as a county commissioner for Springfield since 2023.
The commission first opened an investigation April 10, months after a Jan. 5 State of the County speech where Loveall said the county's job should be to encourage economic development by making room for the private sector. In those remarks, he referenced his company's downtown Springfield developments favorably to draw a contrast with the pace of public housing projects.
"If (government) gets out of the way, private industry will do it better, faster and cheaper," he said.
"Masaka Properties LLC, the company my partners and I still operate, just finished another major build, a 15,000-square-foot mixed-use building, bringing the total number of housing units we brought to market to the downtown core to 30, plus a dozen commercial spaces for new businesses and nearly 200 jobs," he said.
More: Ethics commission investigating Loveall for business promotion
The commission investigated whether Loveall used his county platform to promote his business interests. The investigation found that the video recording and script of Loveall's speech did not appear to indicate that he used his official position to financially benefit or promote Masaka Properties LLC.
But investigators did find that Loveall failed to properly disclose his business interests in required financial forms, specifically on a Statement of Economic Interest filed annually by individuals who hold certain public positions.
According to the commission, Loveall violated Oregon government ethics law by failing to list Masaka Properties LLC and DNL Properties, LLC, a business he and his wife manage, on his 2024 SEI form. Additionally, Loveall is the president and registered agent of Three Sixteen Ministries, a religious domestic nonprofit corporation not registered as a 501(c) nonprofit corporation, which meets the definition of a business. On his 2023, 2024 and 2025 SEI forms, Loveall failed to report his relation to the businesses.
Loveall told the board he did not willfully or intentionally violate the SEI provisions, according to an OGEC report. He argued that SEI omissions were unintentional and the same information was listed elsewhere on his SEIs. Regardless, to conclude the matter, he agreed to the terms and conditions of the letter of education.
On Aug. 26, Loveall submitted amended reports correcting his mistakes and signed the letter from the commission.
Government reporter Alan Torres contributed to this report.
Haleigh Kochanski is a breaking news and public safety reporter for The Register-Guard. You may reach her at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Lane County Commissioner David Loveall settles ethics case