Longtime, outspoken Pasco official dies

Delbert L. “Del” Lathim, an outspoken former member of the Franklin County PUD and Port of Pasco commissions, died this week. He was 75.

A member of a prominent Franklin County family, Lathim was not known for holding back his opinions whether in office or out.

He resigned from both boards in 2003 following redistricting. He left a legacy of conflict included being censured by his PUD peers and memories of a 2001 DUI arrest, for which he remained unapologetic years later.

He attempted to regain a post on the utility district board in 2004, but did not win election. In 2011, he filed to run for an open seat on the port commission that later went to Ron Reimann, a Franklin County farmer.

Born in Dayton, Lathim was a welder and pipefitter at Hanford and an inventor, in addition to holding public office.

When he wasn’t lobbing complaints about the utility district’s history, including a decades-old decision to join the Washington Public Power Supply System’s (aka Energy Northwest) disastrous nuclear construction campaign in Richland, Lathim was sparring with neighbors.

He was once sued by his then-neighbors in Mesa after he removed trees on their property. Lathim insisted an easement granted him access a water line. When he didn’t attend the settlement hearing, a judge entered a $17,500 judgment against him.

Lathim told the Herald he knew nothing about the judgment and wouldn’t pay the bill because he’d done nothing wrong.

He had some feisty ideas about raising Pasco’s profile at a 2014 community forum. He urged the city to consider painting one of its water towers to look like an asparagus spear. He suggested selling land to tribes could bring a Las Vegas-style casino to town.

In what was apparently his final published letter to the Herald, Lathim accused the the Port of Pasco of “gerrymandering” its director districts. The August letter offered dramatic population figures and included a jackrabbit reference to make his point.

The port’s executive director later set the record straight, suggesting Lathim may have confused the port’s director districts with those its neighbor, the Port of Kahlotus.

He died Wednesday at Trios Southridge Hospital in Kennewick. Life Tributes Cremation Center in Kennewick is handling his arrangements.

This story was originally published November 3, 2017 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Longtime, outspoken Pasco official dies."