The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON-The Columbia County Sheriff's Department has a new deputy, and the Public Works Department has three new hirees.

Robbie Patterson's first day with the Sheriff's department began on Sept. 12, and was filled with the usual orientation procedures, he said. Patterson said he knew when he was in high school he wanted a career in law enforcement.

Patterson, who originally hails from Laurinburg, North Carolina, met his wife Crystal, there. He said they left Laurinburg in 2002 for Fort Lewis, Wash., when Patterson joined the Army.

Patterson was a paratrooper with the Army First Special Forces, and throughout his four years at Fort Lewis he was an instructor in martial arts, he said.

When Patterson left the Army in 2006, he said that he trained and worked as a union carpenter, but he also attended Covenant Seminary and Northwest University. In 2010 he took over pastoral duties at a church in Bellevue, Wash., he said.

Patterson said he looks forward to attending police academy, in Burien, Wash., beginning in October.

Patterson also said he looks forward to becoming a part of the Dayton community, and he intends to "make the rounds" in the Christian community, looking for a church. He said he would also like to apply his martial arts skills in a teaching capacity in the community.

The Pattersons are looking for a four-bedroom home in the rural Dayton area to rent so they can settle in with their three children; Lillian, 14, Robbie II, 13, and Joseph, 11. The couple is also expecting their fourth child, Patterson said.

Eian Ray is the new GIS specialist in the Public Works Department. His job is to manage geographic information system data to run analyses, to help make decisions that are based on geographic cartography maps.

Ray hails from the Yakima area, and earned a BA in geography with GIS certification from Central Washington University in Ellensburg, in 2008. He also earned an MBA from Marylhurst University in Portland, Ore., in 2013.

From 2008 to 2012, Ray worked for the Bureau of Land Management in Oregon, and then in the Realty Department for the Makah Indian Tribe, on the Olympic Peninsula, from 2012 until his employment in Columbia County, he said.

"I always wanted to work on a county level. The job is interesting, and I have family in the area. Everything just worked out," Ray said.

When he is not working, Ray said he enjoys adventure driving. He said he and a partner make one or two, trips per year. "In 2015 we drove to Guatemala and back to Seattle in two weeks," Ray said.

In January of this year the pair drove from Seattle to the Arctic to watch the winter solstice, he said. Ray said he looks forward to driving the Al-Can 5,000, sometime in the future.

Lisha Thomas is also new to the Public Works Department.

Thomas was helping fix a sewer line break in front of the Public Works Department during her second week of work for the county, where she is employed as a laborer/operator.

Thomas grew up in the Willamette Valley and after graduating from Lebanon-Union High School in 1989, she ended up in eastern Washington, where she worked in construction.

"I've done construction most of my life," said Thomas.

Thomas' work has included; traffic control supervisor, equipment operator for Ray Poland and Sons, in the Tri Cities, and equipment operator for Dennis Myers Construction in the Tri-Cities, from 2014 until her employment with the Columbia County Public Works Department, she said.

Thomas has two sons, Seth Williams, 22, and Colton Williams, 18. She and her husband, Bob Thomas, moved to Dayton because of family ties he has in the area, she said.

"I love it here in Dayton," said Thomas.

When asked about her hobbies, the word that came to her mind was "horses". Thomas said her goal is to get into barrel racing at some point.

Jeff McCowen is not a new employee in Columbia County, but he is new to the Engineering Department in the Public Works Department.

McCowen said he began working at the Columbia County transfer facility in June of 2008, and that he transferred to the county road crew in 2010, and then into his current position in 2016.

Michele Smith

Eian Ray

McCowen said he comes out of the "school of hard knocks," and attributes his new position in the Public Works Department to "spending some time in the Engineering Department, whenever I was pulled out, to assist in bridge and road inspections."

"I've been given opportunities through my employment with Columbia County," said McCowen.

When McCowen isn't at work he and his wife, Melissa, are busy with their children; son Jordan, 7, and daughter Melissa, 5.

A big part of McCowen's life is also dedicated to other youth in the Dayton community, he said.

In his spare time McCowen is a soccer and girls' basketball coach at Dayton High School, and he is, also, a youth leader for YoungLife.

All of this keeps McCowen very busy. "I wouldn't mind having a seat once in a while. There are no idle moments," McCowen said.