Umatilla County on the lookout for lawyers | REGION, A3
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144th Year, No. 58
REGONIAN
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2020
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WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
PENDLETON
TAKING
THE
REINS
Psychiatric
patient still
missing
Law enforcement gets
late start in search for
Thaddeus Ziemlak
By ALEX CASTLE
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The
psychiatric patient who
went missing from a res-
idential treatment facility
in Pendleton on Sunday
remains at large, accord-
ing to Pendleton Police
Ziemlak
Department Chief Stuart
Roberts.
On Sunday afternoon, Thaddeus Ziem-
lak left Salmon Run, a residential treatment
home under the jurisdiction of the Oregon
Psychiatric Security Review Board, on a
planned recreational outing to the area of
Walmart and Safeway on Southwest Court
Avenue.
A press release from the review board
stated Ziemlak was last seen leaving
Salmon Run, at 2575 Westgate, Pendle-
ton, around 11:30 a.m. and was due back
around 2:30 p.m. He never returned, and
authorities were notifi ed shortly after
4 p.m. on Sunday, according to Roberts.
Alison Bort, executive director of the
psychiatric board, said Salmon Run offi -
cials were following protocol for Ziemlak’s
conditional release when he went missing.
Bort said each patient on conditional
release under the board’s jurisdiction is
assigned a case monitor to stay in contact
with. When a patient goes missing from a
facility, the case monitor is contacted to
help go over any recent incidents or poten-
tial red fl ags.
Sometimes, Bort said, it’s just a mistake
by the patient and there’s no need to con-
tact the police.
While authorities were eventually noti-
fi ed, the search for Ziemlak was slow to
start due to the limited information Rob-
erts and his department had, he said.
Roberts said his department has basic
information on patients at Salmon Run,
such as general physical descriptions,
dates of birth and the original offense they
were charged with, but didn’t have access
to a recent picture of Ziemlak until later on
Sunday.
Law enforcement doesn’t have access
to information about the specifi cs of each
patient’s conditional release, Roberts said,
which is intentionally limited to protect
patient privacy.
All patients on conditional release are
entered into the law enforcement database,
Bort said, but details of that release often
fall under HIPAA protections.
“We don’t want our patients having
their mental illness used against them for
housing or employment,” she said.
Court documents from 2017 show that
Ziemlak’s conditional release was mod-
ifi ed while a resident at McNary Place,
which is a facility in Hermiston. The mod-
ifi cation allowed Ziemlak to go on “solo
passes” or “peer passes” away from the
facility, so long as he and whoever he was
Colleagues say Randy Bracher
will provide hands-on, humble
leadership as Round-Up president
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Randy Bracher, the new Pendleton Round-Up president, poses for a portrait at the Round-Up Grounds on Friday. Bracher is
taking the reins as president after previously serving as the vice president of the Round-Up Board of Directors.
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
P
ENDLETON — Randy
Bracher will tell you he
never aspired to be pres-
ident of the Pendleton
Round-Up Association.
Those who know him
well believe him without hesitation.
Bracher is a low-key, unfl ashy guy
who speaks quietly but still has clout.
And, however reluctantly or humbly he
arrived at his current position, Bracher
is the man.
“They asked me if I would do it and
I kindly accepted,” he said with a grin.
“I’m looking for a challenge that gets
me out of my comfort zone.”
A year or more as president of one
of the most iconic rodeos in the coun-
try should do the trick. The president
is the rock star of local rodeo leader-
ship, the ring leader and the cheer-
leader. While General Manager Erika
Patton manages the rodeo’s day-to-day
details, Bracher will lead the directors
on big picture decisions.
Nick Sirovatka, the Round-Up
board’s director of competitive events,
described Bracher as a boots-on-the-
ground type of person.
“He wants to do stuff rather than
talk about doing stuff,” Sirovatka said.
“He’s more comfortable working than
talking about working.”
He said Bracher, elected this fall to
succeed Dave O’Neill as president, is
an excellent choice, however, because
of his extensive rodeo knowledge and
deep roots in the community. Leader-
ship skills, such as speaking in front of
groups and overseeing 18 directors, are
developing quickly.
“He is coming into his own,” Siro-
vatka said.
Bracher and his brother, Paul,
operate Bracher Farms, which raises
wheat, alfalfa, seed corn and grass
seed. Their father, Cliff, retired sev-
eral years ago and left day-to-day
PAST PRESIDENTS
James Rosenberg (1980-83)
J.A. (Jerry) Schubert (1983-84)
Donald J. Cook (1984-86)
Larry Rew (1986-88)
Ron Hudson (1989-90)
Doug Corey (1990-91)
Bob Burns (1991-92)
Paul Rice, Jr. (1992-94)
Mark Perkins (1994-96)
Mike Hopper (1996-98)
Garry Zollman (1998-00)
Mark Rosenberg (2000-02)
Steven Corey (2002-03)
Tom Weeks, MD (003-05)
Marv Anderson 2005-06
Virgil (Butch) Thurman (2007-08)
Randy Severe (2008-10)
Dennis Hunt (2010-12)
Tim Hawkins (2012-14)
Bill Quesenberry (2014-15)
Bill Levy (2015-17)
Dave O’Neill (2017-19)
Roy Raley (1910)
Til Taylor (1911-20)
Henry Collins (1920-32)
Dr. D.W. McNary (1933-39)
William H. Switzler (1939-40)
Sam R. Thompson (1940-45)
Faye S. LeGrow (1945-49)
John O. Hales (1949-51)
Berkeley A. Davis (1951-54)
Finis Kirkpatrick (1954-56)
Jack Stangier (1956-58)
R.K. (John) Bauer (1958-60)
Fred Hill (1960-62)
Verne Terjeson (1962-64)
Ford Robertson (1964-65)
Leonard King (1965-68)
John H. Mulligan (1968-70)
Robert Hales (1970-72)
Frank Tubbs (1972-74)
Glenn Thorne (1974-76)
John S. (Jiggs) Fisk (1976-78)
Royal Raymond (1978-80)
“HE WANTS TO DO STUFF RATHER THAN
TALK ABOUT DOING STUFF. HE’S MORE
COMFORTABLE WORKING THAN TALKING
ABOUT WORKING.”
Nick Sirovatka, Round-Up board’s director of competitive events
operations to his sons.
Randy is a fi fth-generation East-
ern Oregon farmer and rancher. He
and his wife, Char, have two children,
Sydney, 15, and Blair, 13. Bracher’s
great-great-grandfather, James Paul
Dorran, began to farm north of Helix
after receiving a couple of quarter sec-
tions of land in lieu of money for his
railroad work. The family expanded its
farming footprint with each generation.
Randy and his three siblings grew
up on a farm near Cold Springs Creek
among a menagerie of horses, cattle,
chickens, rabbits and sheep. His father
attended to farming while his mother,
Judy Bracher, taught elementary
school in Hermiston. Randy especially
loved his family’s horses and cattle.
“My grandfather was a horseman
and cattleman,” Bracher said. “I caught
the bug early on.”
More inspiration came from a
neighbor who raised bucking horses.
See Round-Up, Page A8
See Missing, Page A8
New fi re chief sets roots in Pendleton
Fire chief will
still be overseen
by police chief
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — As the
city of Pendleton approached
two years without a permanent
fi re chief, the city removed the
interim tag from Fire Chief
Jim Critchley.
Mayor John Turner swore
in Critchley at a Pendleton
City Council meeting on Tues-
day night, reading off a long
list of Critchley’s accolades
and awards before administer-
ing the oath.
“I like where I’ve landed,”
Critchley said in front of a full
audience.
He came to Pendleton as
the interim fi re chief in August
from Tucson, where he had
just retired as fi re chief of the
second largest city in Arizona.
In an interview before the
meeting, Critchley said he
accepted the city’s offer to
take the permanent position
because he liked the commu-
nity and wasn’t ready to stop
working yet.
City Manager Robb Cor-
bett said after the meeting that
the Western Fire Chiefs Asso-
ciation recommended Critch-
ley for the interim position
after the city found the pool
of applicants for fi re chief
lacking.
Corbett said he liked
Critchley’s experience and
ability, offering him the per-
manent position without
reopening the application pro-
cess, although he did pass a
background check.
Critchley now fi lls a posi-
tion that has become a revolv-
ing door in the past decade.
Including interim appoint-
ments, the department was led
by eight different people in the
last nine years.
The last interim fi re chief,
Paul Berardi, lasted less than
See Fire, Page A8
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Pendleton Fire Chief Jim Critchley, right, is sworn
into his position by Mayor John Turner during the
city council meeting on Tuesday night. Critchley had
served as interim fi re chief since August.