Senator Rich Alloway, (R-Chambersburg), has been promoting the services of Municipal Revenue Services (MRS) to local school districts as counsel with the Harrisburg based law firm, Elliott Greenleaf.
MRS, an Erie based accounting firm, is a client of Elliott Greenleaf. MRS services offer advances on monies that a school district will collect on delinquent taxes for a 6 percent fee. The school district gets its back taxes in a lump sum from MRS, and MRS collects the trickle of delinquencies over two to four years.
Alloway said he has given information about MRS to several school districts. Although some claim that his part-time job at Elliott Greenleaf is a conflict of interest based upon his full-time job as a Pennsylvania Senator. Alloway states, “I don’t see where this is a problem.”
“We are lawyers 24/7 no matter where we are,” Alloway said. He said he chose to join a law firm outside his senatorial district to lessen the chance of any conflict of interest. But according to Elliott Greenleaf, Alloway’s law work concentrates on the district, as Rep. Alloway’s bio reads, “Alloway’s practice focuses on serving his clients in the firm’s core practice areas of health care, banking, educational municipal law, real estate and employment law, particularly in the Franklin, Adams and York Counties of central Pennsylvania.”
Of course the person screaming the loudest regarding Sen. Alloway’s part-time job is Jim Taylor. Taylor, who was Alloway’s opponent in the 2008 GOP primary election, wrote “Something’s Fishy” for the first edition of The Tea Part Press. “Maybe this sort of thing goes on all the time. But it’s natural to wonder if this isn’t at least a little shady. We elect people to office and invest them with prestige and power, and then they turn around and use that prestige and power to enrich themselves,” Taylor wrote.
Sen. Alloway’s response, “This is just Jim Taylor being Jim Taylor. He’s still angry over losing the election, and he continues to attack me. This guy is about making money for himself. He needs a villain to make money. This guy is a political moneymaker. This is another attempt to make money for himself by attacking me. It’s disgusting. It’s dirty politics so this guy can make money. It doesn’t belong in our political system.”
Taylor operates America’s Political Action Committee Inc. (PAC) from an office in Greencastle. The conservative PAC paid Taylor $25,557 in 2010, and $29,000 to Antrim Direct Mail. Antrim Direct Mail is a source of income for Taylor, according to his 2007 candidate statement of financial interests.
Alloway’s annual pay as state senator is $78,315. Alloway’s most recent statement of financial interests indicates he is “of counsel” with Elliott Greenleaf and a 50 percent member with Turnkey Property Development LLC, Chambersburg, Alloway Properties LLC, Chambersburg, and Echo Smart LLC, Harrisburg.
Taylor brought into question Alloway’s compensation for moonlighting with the law firm. Alloway is not a partner or an associate, but of counsel. Alloway said he joined Elliott Greenleaf about a year ago after interviewing with a number of firms.
“It was a better fit for my limited time. It’s very reputable firm. They’re hoping to grow their business in south-central Pennsylvania. I’m not going to be a senator forever,” Alloway said. Senator Alloway is up for re-election in 2012.
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