Skin in the Game
David’s journey toward public service is typical of his approach to life. He puts “skin in the game”.
Rolling up his sleeves, working hard and applying vision to the issues facing Springfield and the county are just what you’d expect from someone that acts on his dreams and beliefs… and creates change.
David and Nita Loveall
David and Nita, married 42 years, have made Springfield their family home since 1987 and raised three children—Garrett, 35; Mikayla, 31; William, 23. The community isn’t just where they have roots, though, they’ve nurtured their dream of how it can be better.
David, born and raised in Lane County and Nita, a lifelong resident of Springfield saw the potential of downtown Springfield as a catalyst for change—it just needed some elbow grease and personal commitment.
Reinvesting in Downtown Springfield
David recalls, “I convinced my wife to take all of the equity in our personal home and my life savings, to buy the Washburne Building in 2008. Now that is now the Washburne Cafe building because I saw great potential in downtown Springfield. An unexpected expense of a new fire sprinkler system was required midway through the project and I had to sell my prized 1965 Sunbeam Tiger (that I’d painstakingly restored over eight years) to close the gap. Skin in the game.”
In 2017, David and Nita with their long-time friends and newly formed business partners, approached the owners of the old EconoSales store to see if they would be interested in selling the property. The second floor of seven apartments and the current Tavern on Main, had been boarded up and vacant for 30 years. After securing a deal, the friends established Masaka Properties LLC, walked into the Springfield permit office and started navigating the uncharted lane of “developer”, which is really just another name for “visionary”.
Shortly after, they dug a bit deeper and began restoring, rebuilding 345 Main Street. Four new apartments and five new commercial businesses were added to the momentum of Springfield’s Main Street revitalization.
David and Masaka carefully crafted partnerships along with the developments and gave Main Street new direction. First by making downtown livable, they created commercial needs that support community and mixed-use living. David remains committed to find underutilized properties that can be suited for new housing and new business, because he believes these are the drivers of creativity, economic renewal and better/safer communities.
Using a “hands on” partnership with all tenants—investing personal money, providing management and direct help in the forms of labor and guidance—is building a team of similarly-minded, strong, diverse, and symbiotic stakeholders. Each have become successful and vital component to the development of a great community.
David says, “The success of our efforts downtown have shown me that we can get things done and make positive changes in Springfield and Lane County. It’s hard work and I believe that, through partnerships and community focused leadership, we can come together to enjoy what we love about Springfield and bring about the changes we want to see in the future.”
Military Service
US NAVY, Jan 1979 – 1985
Photographer’s Mate reporting to active-duty Oct 1979. Technical training proficiency propelled him to the accelerated rank of E-4 (third class petty officer). Received Aircrew wings to perform aerial photography in many types of Jet and Helicopter craft.
Transferred to the Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Squadron, Pensacola, Fl, as their photographer. While deployed there, he was selected one of only eight others Navy-wide to attend a specialized, multi-military photojournalism training for a year at the Newhouse School of Journalism, Syracuse, NY.
Community Service
David and Nita pastored a startup church in Uganda called THREE SIXTEEN MINISTRIES for 10 years. Through that experience, they built four churches, established and mentored several businesses including a rental wedding dress shop (started with over 200 donated dresses!) Nita worked to establish the first business networking group, set-up a food bank during the extreme lockdown of COVID that feeds over 200 people and is still serving people in need today. They’ve aided orphanages, taught in churches, organized and spoke at men’s and women’s retreats, large youth events, and on the religious TV network headquartered in Kampala city.
