It’s good to examine both sides of an issue. Better still to examine all sides.

But there’s reason to think that a special committee studying the city of Spokane Valley’s sign regulations will concentrate on only one side of the question assigned to it. All seven members have strong ties to business, including the sign business.

Signage in the area has been a tense political issue that predates incorporation. When Spokane Valley became a city, it inherited the county’s sign code and the controversy that went with it.

Opposition to that code, which limits how many signs a property can have and how big they can be, came largely from businesses defending their ability to attract trade.

The seven-member committee is expected to review that code and make recommendations to the City Council before a comprehensive land-use plan is adopted.

The committee’s design suggested a variety of perspectives: two members from the business community, two from the sign industry, two from the community, plus a member of the Planning Commission.

As it turned out, the Planning Commission member is a Realtor and both community members have direct business attachments. One, David Quinn, previously was vice president of sales for F.O. Berg’s awning and sign division.

The business perspective is essential to the committee’s work. But other perspectives are important, too – the aesthetic perspective, the consumer perspective, to name two.

To achieve a credible outcome, those interests should have been involved in this important process. Genuine accommodation needs to be made for them now.