The proposed "Spokane Bill of Rights" will get a hearing Monday evening on whether it should go to the next phase of qualifying for the November ballot.

The Spokane City Council will hold the hearing at its regular 6 p.m. legislative session prior to a vote on sending the petitions to the Spokane County Auditor's office for signature verification.

The vote is almost pro forma unless something about the initiative is misleading or illegal.

At a special meeting Thursday afternoon to approve the hearing, several councilmembers had questions about the way the petitions were printed or whether the proposal would generate legal challenges because of possible conflicts with state law. Those are discussions that should be held Monday, attorney Mike Piccolo said.

Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin said she'd been approached by people who complained a copy of the charter change wasn't available to read when they were signing petitions.

But the petitions had the full language of the charter change on the back of the signature page.

 Council President Joe Shogan noted the city has a tradition of not blocking proposed charter changes from reaching the ballot.

"We have a history of not interfering with the initiative process regardless of our personal beliefs," he said. "It's better to err on the side of going forward and letting the people decide."

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