Lucy Nashed, communications director for Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, has resigned after the agriculture department gave contradictory reports to different media outlets on whether Miller had used state funds to compete in a rodeo.
Nashed, who worked for former Gov. Rick Perry‘s presidential bid prior to taking the post with Miller in November, said there is a “tremendous lack of communication” at the Texas Department of Agriculture, “which makes it difficult as a communications person to do my job effectively.”
“I have appreciated the chance to work for TDA and the Texas agriculture industry,” Nashed said. “I’m leaving to pursue different opportunities.”
The Houston Chronicle reported over the weekend that Miller took a state-paid trip to Mississippi to participate in the National Dixie Rodeo but later repaid the state with campaign and personal funds. He told the Chronicle that the intent of the trip was to meet with agriculture officials there, making it a legitimate state-covered business trip. Miller said after those meetings fell through, he repaid the state for the trip.
More than a week before the Chronicle story, Nashed told the Tribune that the Mississippi trip — which was always designed to be a personal trip — was mistakenly booked as a business trip. Once the staffer realized the trip was personal, Nashed said, Miller repaid the state for the trip.
Nashed said she doesn’t have another job lined up.
Source: Sid Miller’s Communications Director Resigns | The Texas Tribune