The Lane County Board of Commissioners voted to censure one of their own, Commissioner David Loveall, at a Tuesday meeting.
The vote follows the board’s request that Loveall offer a public apology after a condensed version of a report from outside counsel found that he had harassed and retaliated against multiple county staffers.
After public comment, commissioners voted 5-0 in favor of “A Statement of Unity and Support for Those Reporting Discrimination and Harassment.”
That vote was followed by a call for Loveall to offer an apology for his alleged actions. Instead, he asked that his attorney, Jill Gibson, be allowed to speak as the county had its outside counsel, Jose Klein, at the meeting.
Klein said that allowing Gibson to speak was a decision that was up to the board. Commissioners voted against it, saying Gibson is an adversarial attorney who had previously advised Loveall to file a lawsuit against the county, and that Loveall had been afforded a chance to respond at a Feb. 18 meeting.
When pressed after the denial, Loveall refused to issue an apology.
Vice Chair Heather Buch then introduced the censure order.
“Given that Commissioner Loveall has not issued an apology, and given that County’s special counsel has advised that in the absence of an apology, it is in the best interest of Lane County to take appropriate corrective action to help reduce the county’s liability for any potential future retaliation actions taken by Commissioner Loveall against county employees,” said Buch.
Loveall abstained from the vote to censure him.
"Respectfully, Chair Ceniga, I won’t participate in an illegal meeting and I won’t respond to an illegal motion directed at me by the board at this time," he said.
Before voting on the censure, the other commissioners took time to explain their votes, starting with the two who joined Buch in voting for it.
"It is deeply regrettable and more than a little disturbing to me that Commissioner Loveall refuses to take a shred of accountability or to demonstrate self-reflection," said Commissioner Laurie Trieger.
“The issue at hand is not whether or not we are good people,” said Commissioner Pat Farr before voting for the censure. “The issue is whether or not we respect the people we work among.”
With Loveall abstaining, Chair Ryan Ceniga cast the lone “no” vote.
“I have concerns about this process, and I believe that the process of not letting Counsel Gibson speak to us was a mistake,” he said.
The order also stated that the board accepted the findings of the report, found that Loveall’s conduct “amounts to willful neglect of duty of a county commissioner,” and his conduct was inappropriate and improper. The motion to censure also asked that Loveall seek better understanding and further training of county policy.
