Pacific

Senior Counsel

Jeff serves as Senior Counsel to PEER, where he specializes in civil service, scientific integrity, and whistleblower protection issues. Jeff was PEER’s Executive Director from 1997 to 2019 and its Pacific Director from 2019 to 2025. Previously, he was the Policy Director and a staff attorney at the Government Accountability Project, representing whistleblowers from both the public and private sectors. Before coming to DC, Jeff worked in California state government for 17 years, mostly in the State Legislature as counsel to various committees where he drafted hundreds of laws on topics ranging from energy conservation to the rights of employed inventors. Jeff served stints as a deputy district attorney and an appellate court clerk. He is a graduate of the California Correctional Officers Academy.

COMMENTARY | Alaska Can No Longer Ignore Climate Change: Latest Disaster Should Be Wake-Up Call

by Jeff Ruch | October 21, 2025
Remnants of typhoon Halong battered Alaska with hellacious winds and record-breaking storm surges, yet national and even state policies are unlikely to change in its aftermath ...

Challenge to Disastrous Santa Susana Cleanup Advances

by PEER | July 14, 2025
Newsom-Boeing Backroom Deal Illegally Condemns Site to Uninhabitability ...

COMMENTARY | Stop the Great Public Lands Heist

by Chandra Rosenthal | June 20, 2025
PEER opposes any conveyance of public land in the budget reconciliation. We oppose all efforts to sell off our public lands and gut our public lands agencies ...

Point Reyes Sweetheart Cattle Leases are Illegal

by PEER | February 12, 2024
Dairy and Beef Ranches on Seashore Pay Far Below Fair Market Value ...

COMMENTARY | Redeeming Santa Susana: Micro-Steps Up a Mountain

by Jeff Ruch | November 6, 2023
The communities around Santa Susana will continue to suffer while Boeing shirks responsibility and leaves a toxic legacy ...
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