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Prosser businessman who was a ‘thorn’ in the side of city hall has died

By Tri-City Herald staff
Larry Loges of Prosser put this sign up in 1998 after the city of Prosser forced him to close a flea market on his land.
Larry Loges of Prosser put this sign up in 1998 after the city of Prosser forced him to close a flea market on his land. File Tri-City Herald

A self-proclaimed “thorn in the side” of Prosser has died.

Larry A. Loges was 72.

Loges, who was dubbed a “civic gadfly” by the Seattle Times in 2009, fought city hall loudly and prominently for years — and sometimes won.

“I know I’m a thorn in the side for Prosser, but I’m just trying to see what’s going on in government,” he once told the Tri-City Herald.

He told the Times he was investigating “arrogance, bigotry and corruption,” though many of his claims over the years were dismissed by judges.

However, in July 2009, Prosser was ordered to pay Loges $175,000 for attorneys fees to settle a 2007 public records lawsuit.

The mobile-home park owner claimed the city delayed, ignored or improperly filed 41 public records requests that he’d made the year before.

Two years later, he won a $51,500 judgment against the city in a battle over a semi-trailer seized from his property.

Prosser resident Larry Loges racked up a long list of requests under the Washington Public Records Act for city information.
Prosser resident Larry Loges racked up a long list of requests under the Washington Public Records Act for city information. File Tri-City Herald

He’d painted a message on the trailer mocking then-Mayor Linda Lusk for a plan to spend $2 million on a giant wine glass as a tourist attraction.

Lusk would later plead guilty in 2011 to felony child molestation for sexual contact with her teen daughter’s ex-boyfriend, then 14, and be featured on the ABC program 20/20.

Public criticism

Much to the dismay of the chamber of commerce and others, Loges and another Prosser businessmen Larry Brunelle made their criticism of Prosser officials very public.

Prosser businessmen Larry Loges and Larry Brunelle were asked by the Prosser Chamber of Commerce to tone down the political messages on their readerboards.
Prosser businessmen Larry Loges and Larry Brunelle were asked by the Prosser Chamber of Commerce to tone down the political messages on their readerboards. File Tri-City Herald

Both owned property on the city’s main thoroughfare and used signs and readerboards to express their opinions in the town of about 6,000 that’s also home to the Benton County Courthouse.

In an effort to try to impose limits on public records requests, some city and state officials cited Loges as an example of someone who abused Washington state’s Public Records Act.

At one time, he’d made 129 public-disclosure requests in two years, costing Prosser at least $75,000 and more than 100 working days for employees.

Loges claimed the city singled him out because most of his renters were Hispanic.

“If you are one of the good old boys and in with the community, you can do anything and get away with it,” he told the Times.

Loges died Monday in Prosser. Valley Hills Funeral Home in Zillah is handling his services.

This story was originally published May 12, 2020 at 5:00 AM.

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