Lane County Commissioner David Loveall is under investigation by the Oregon Ethics Commission.
Allegations reviewed by the commission accuse Loveall of improperly using the State of the County address in January to promote businesses he owns and improperly filling out ethics paperwork.
Ethics investigator Josh Sullivan said he didn’t find evidence during his preliminary review showing Loveall used his position to benefit his businesses, Masaka Properties and DNL Properties. He said Loveall did mention his businesses in the State of the County Address address, but what Loveall said did not appear to be sufficient enough to have broken the law.
But, ethics commissioners still voted to investigate, with some arguing that Loveall using his platform to talk about his businesses at all was free publicity.
The other concern was about Loveall’s Statement of Economic Interest form. That’s paperwork lawmakers at every level, and some high-ranking non-elected public officials, must file with the Oregon Ethics Commission every year to provide transparency about their finances and any potential conflicts of interest.
Loveall’s attorney, Jill Gibson, acknowledged to the commission at their April 10 meeting that Loveall did make a paperwork mistake in 2024, but noted it was correct in other years. She said he did list his income from those businesses on those forms, but in a different category, because they don’t do business with the county.
She did not speak to the concerns about Loveall’s alleged use of county resources to promote his businesses, but did say she was concerned that the expanding scope of the investigation raised due process concerns.
Loveall has been investigated by the ethics commission before. One of the complaints, over an alleged conflict of interest, was dismissed. The other occurred when all five Lane county commissioners unintentionally broke open meeting law, and the county was provided with a letter of advice.
Loveall is in a potentially tight race for reelection, facing Springfield Mayor Sean VanGordon. Loveall, who has faced controversy during his first term as commissioner, said his job is to ask hard questions even if it offends people. VanGordon has said he hopes to calm the waters on the Board and focus on collaboration.
KLCC has requested the name of the person who filed the complaint against Loveall and will update the story if information becomes available.
