Thursday, March 31, 2011

Cherokee County Republican Party Chairman forced to resign Adult Protective Services job

Jacksonville, TX:

The Jacksonville Daily Progress reports that Adult Protective Services investigator Stephen R. Looney was forced in December 2010 to resign his position with the Jacksonville branch of DFPS for alleged violations. The Daily Progress omits within its post-Primary article that Looney is the chairman for Cherokee County’s Republican Party. Steve Looney, pictured below with local Republican officeholders, was elected as Cherokee County’s Republican Party chairman in March 2010. (Source: Jacksonville Daily Progress)
Pictured from left to right Pct. 2 Constable Jack White, Pct. 1 Constable Lynn Kelly, Republican County Chair Steve Looney, Lawrence Davis, Pct. 2 Justice of the Peace candidate Tony Johnson, County Judge Chris Davis, County Sheriff James Campbell, State Senator Robert Nichols, Pct. 3 Justice of the Peace candidate Phillip Grimes, District Clerk Janet Gates, and Pct. 4 Justice of the Peace candidate Roberta Durate. (Source: Jacksonville Daily Progress, September 10, 2010) According to the most recent Jacksonville Daily Progress article on the resignation,
Looney was recommended for dismissal by the Jacksonville department supervisor in a memorandum making claims he had inflated travel-mileage reports, falsified case reports, billed the department for services clients didn't receive and, in one case, sexually harassed a client, according to documents received from the Department of Family Protective Services (DFPS), of which APS is a division. (Source: Jacksonville Daily Progress, March 30, 2011)
Steve Looney, who had been employed with Cherokee County Adult Protective Services since 2008, was reprimanded by his superiors in February 2010 for personally renting a house to a client under his supervision, according to the Daily Progress.


Steve Looney

It took the Jacksonville Daily Progress nearly 4 months to report the resignation of this Adult Protective Services employee with no mention of Looney’s Cherokee County political affiliations. These are the people charged with protecting the county’s at-risk adult and elderly population, while at the same time violating conflict of interest protocols. The overt pattern of not only conducting personal business on agency time, but simultaneously promoting their elected position in the newspapers, is indicative of their confidence in the corrupt Good Ol’ Boy system. This is yet another example of your local newspaper belatedly reporting only after the fact negative information in order to shield the county’s political hierarchy.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services website lists the services APS provides to exploited elderly or disabled adults. (Source: DFPS)

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