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Tupac Superfan Asked To Resign From Government Job A Day After Emailing Tupac Lyrics To 4,300 Employees
Tupac Superfan Asked To Resign From Government Job A Day After Emailing Tupac Lyrics To 4,300 Employees
Source: Iowa.gov

Iowa Official Says He Had To Resign Over Pay Dispute & Not Because Of His Tupac Fandom

Tupac Superfan Asked To Resign From Government Job A Day After Emailing Tupac Lyrics To 4,300 Employees Source: Iowa.gov

Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand is going to investigate Jerry Foxhoven's dismissal as Iowa's Department of Human Services director.

Jerry Foxhoven, the former director for Iowa's Department of Human Services, says that he was dismissed from the position not because of his fandom of the late rapper Tupac but because of a pay dispute.

READ: Tupac superfan Asked To Resign From Government Job A Day After Emailing Tupac Lyrics To 4,300 Employees

In a report from the Associated Press, Foxhoven said he was asked to leave "after he had objected to the governor's request that he continue paying the salary of a woman moving from his department to the governor's office."

"I can confirm that I was concerned about the legality of using DHS funds to pay the salaries of the governor's staff. I wanted an opinion about the legality of this from the attorney general's office before I would act on the governor's office request. I was asked to step down before I could ask for that legal opinion," Foxhoven said.

Foxhoven had declined to approve paying Elizabeth Matney's salary after she left the Department of Human Services May 17 and accepted a job as Gov. Kim Reynolds' adviser on health policy.

The Associated Press also obtained documents showing a memorandum of understanding that was signed more than a month later on June 19 between the governor's office and the DHS. In that memorandum was confirmation that Reynolds' office was to bill DHS for wages and salaries from May 17 through June 30.

The document was initially drafted with Foxhoven's name but has since been replaced with Gerd Clabaugh's name. Clabaugh is the interim director of DHS who was named as Foxhoven's replacement by Reynolds.

Foxhoven said he objected to paying Matney out of his department's funds but a spokesman said the former director didn't object to it.

Since then, it has been reported that Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand is investigating Foxhoven's resignation.

Foxhoven first gained media attention for being a superfan of the late rapper Tupac. The 66-year-old sent in an email to the agency’s 4,300 employees prior to his resignation that included a quote from the artist, and also hosted weekly “Tupac Fridays” where he would play the rapper’s music in the office.

Source: Associated Press