Readers of Philadelphia's major newspapers are seeing an ad this week that is unusual in two respects. The full-page ad features a drawing of a cute alpaca chewing dollars, and it is paid for by a political newcomer challenging state Sen. Vince Fumo.

The ad, titled "Don't feed the alpacas," is at first humorous, but it also is serious — because it reminds voters of the federal corruption charges against Fumo, a powerful Philadelphia Democrat. The ad is from Democrat Anne Dicker, who plans to challenge Fumo in the 2008 primary. The reference to alpacas is based on evidence in the federal indictment that Fumo planned to raise alpacas at his hobby farm near Harrisburg.

The 139-count federal indictment issued in February accuses Fumo of misspending $1 million in taxpayer funds by using Senate employees and state-paid contractors to handle his personal needs, including work on the 100-acre farm Fumo bought near Harrisburg.

With her relative lack of political experience, Dicker cannot be expected to best Fumo when it comes to issues. He is known to be a skilled politician and is knowledgeable about state issues. But if even half of what is alleged in the indictment is true, Dicker should be able to benefit from voters' outrage over yet another state lawmaker using his power and state resources to serve himself rather than his constituents.

Dicker's aggressive ad campaign is helpful in reminding voters, in Philadelphia and across the state, that the charges againstFumo are far from trivial. Some of them would be humorous, if they were not such outrageous examples of abuse of power.

The indictment also alleges that Fumo misused resources and assets of a Philadelphia nonprofit agency that had close connections to the senator, including having a former top aide to Fumo as its executive director. In the case of Citizens Alliance for Better Neighborhoods, federal investigators charge that many items purchased by the nonprofit, including $75,000 in power tools and even excavation equipment, ended up at one of Fumo's four homes, including his Harrisburg farm.

One of the more damaging charges in the indictment involves a person identified as Senate Contractor No. 4, who had been hired by Fumo to provide financial analyses and consulting services on transportation issues. Despite his $150-per-hour rate, federal prosecutors say that the Senate has no documentation showing any work done by Contractor No. 4.

Prosecutors go on to say that Contractor No. 4 later began overseeing work on Fumo's farm. At about that same time, Contractor No. 4 began receiving a monthly check for $10,000 from the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission for what was described as consulting services. Again, federal prosecutors say that the Turnpike Commission has no records showing any work done by Contractor No. 4.

The Dicker ad also refers to a variety of other Senate employees who are alleged to have worked on or for Fumo's farm, including supervising renovation and construction, buying supplies, paying bills and setting up a post officebox for the farm.

The seemingly stalled reform movement in Harrisburg needs a boost, and Dicker's ad campaign will help rekindle voter outrage over the seriousness of the charges against Fumo. The mountain of evidence suggests a lifestyle in which the senator, himself already a millionaire who famously touted the benefits of using "other people's money," was serving his own personal and political needs at the expense of state taxpayers.

The abuses charged in the federal indictment paint a picture of arrogance, abuse of power, and a sense of entitlement that is on a grand scale similar to the attitude displayed by the key lawmakers behind the controversial 2005 pay-raise vote.

Fumo is considered one of the most powerful lawmakers in the state. The four-year federal investigation that led to the indictment provides plenty of evidence of abuse, despite the deletion of a substantial amount of computer-based information as the result of two Senate employees allegedly being directed by Fumo to eliminate e-mails and other electronic evidence on computers and Blackberry devices.

Changing the culture in Harrisburg is turning out to be more difficult than just replacing a record number of incumbents, as happened in 2006. More reform-minded replacements will be needed in the General Assembly and, based on the Fumo indictment and the investigation into legislative bonuses, the courts might well play a significant role in bringing change to Harrisburg.