Iowa governor’s aide now says Tupac email not tied to ouster
Posted July 18, 2019 4:24 pm.
IOWA CITY, Iowa — A spokesman for Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds now says a mass email praising rapper Tupac Shakur wasn’t the reason Reynolds ousted an agency director.
Reynolds spokesman Pat Garrett was asked last week whether the June 14 agency-wide email from Department of Human Services Director Jerry Foxhoven was tied to the governor’s request that Foxhoven immediately resign the next work day.
Garrett said only that a “number of factors” prompted the governor’s decision, and that she wanted to take the agency in a new direction.
On Thursday, he told the Des Moines Register that “of course” Foxhoven’s love for the rapper didn’t factor into his dismissal.
Foxhoven’s practice of listening to the rapper’s music in his office on “Tupac Fridays,” marking the artist’s birthday and quoting lyrics had won him praise from some employees. But at least one also had previously complained to lawmakers.
The Associated Press
