Who Was Jeff Zander?
After this all came to light, Zander avoided a seven-year stint in the brig by arranging a plea bargain to felony charges including false statements, wearing unauthorized awards and 20 counts of conduct unbecoming an officer. According to Caplan, though, the Marines were forced to exonerate or partially exonerate 21 convicted soldiers who Zander had represented as defense counsel. The service has not forgotten the case; an article in the Winter 2006/Spring 2007 issue of Military Law Review contains a stinging assessment: “Capt. Zander, who had eight years enlisted service in which to absorb the military ethos, lied about core aspects of what we all share and value as Soldiers and Marines: combat, and selflessness, and valor.”
How Zander came to reinvent himself as an economic development expert in the years after his court-martial is still unknown, as is how he came to be hired to lead one of the most influential economic development agencies in Humboldt County. Attempts to reach Zander at his home in Utah were unsuccessful, and the lips of RREDC are tightly sealed. Blue Lake City Councilmember Sherman Schapiro, chair of the RREDC Board of Directors, was reached at his home Monday; he said only that he had nothing to say.
When asked for a copy of the resume Zander provided to RREDC last year, Zander’s replacement — Gregg Foster, who previously served as the commission’s executive director from 1999 to 2007 — said that he could not provide it, on the advice of the commission’s legal counsel.
Fulkerson, who came on to the board of directors at the beginning of the year, said that the commission was under strict legal instructions not to discuss the specifics of Zander’s time at RREDC — not even in closed session, with only other members of the board of directors present. But she did say that none of the information about Zander’s background — which came as a surprise to her — was a factor in the dispute that led the board to place Zander on administrative leave just two months after he took the job.
“I can tell you that on the face of it, it didn’t seem like much,” Fulkerson said. “If you were to hear it — the specifics — you’d think that this kind of thing happens every day somewhere.”
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44th Annual Kinetic Grand Championship Race
STAFF PICK / events, art, outdoors, sports, for kids, free / 9 a.m.-6 p.m. A 3-day, 42-mile kinetic sculpture race over land, sand, mud and water! LeMans start at the Noon Whistle on the Arcata Plaza. Follow the race through Manila, Eureka and into Ferndale on Memorial Day for the Glorious Finish. kineticgrandchampionship.com. 889-3024.
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STAFF PICK / outdoors / 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Meet at Pacific Union School. Help remove non-native invasives at the Lanphere Dunes Unit of the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Tools and gloves provided, wear work clothes and bring water. Carpool to the protected site. 444-1397.
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SEVEN Comments
Comment / By brorbo / Sept. 3, 2009, 9:18 a.m.
One wonders what type of background check RREDC employs in order to screen prospective employees.
This is the same agency that manages a large amount of Headwater’s Fund money’s on hehalf of the County, isn’t it?
Comment / By Red / Sept. 3, 2009, 9:38 a.m.
The DA’s office had a similar situation a few years ago, a deputy DA who falsely claimed to be in the reserves as a JAG prosecutor; he lasted about 8 months in Humboldt before Gallegos managed to palm him off on Lake county (by which I mean that Gallegos had knowledge of his deputy’s false claims and failed to disclose same to Lake during the background check), where he lasted about six weeks before he “resigned.” I understand Lake ratted him out to the feds and he pled to some form of Federal misdemeanor. He subsequently went to Mendocino as a public defender where he landed a starring role in a 1st district (appellate) ineffective assistance of counsel case.
Comment / By Albert / Sept. 5, 2009, 11:30 a.m.
Thank god Gregg Foster is back at RREDC. brorbo is right to be concerned, although it’s more accurate to say that RREDC lends out Headwaters loan funds. They don’t manage the money like investment managers would.
Comment / By dan / Nov. 11, 2009, 1:52 p.m.
wow, and to think i know some people that know some people that was married to that ass.
Comment / By grace massey / June 9, 2010, 10:01 a.m.
Screw you Hank Sims. I do NOT like jerks like him writing effing articles about my dad.
Comment / By unknown / Aug. 28, 2011, 7:43 p.m.
Grace Massey is not Jeff Zanders daughter. She is a step daughter and knows nothing about her step father. Maybe that is a good thing but sad for her to have so much faith in him.
Comment / By paula / Yesterday, 9:23 a.m.
Jeff Zander’s real children have nothing to do with him. When he left the wife and kids he had abused for a prostitute, he never looked back. I hope he gets what he deserves………a long unhappy life in prison as Bubba’s bitch.