The state Public Disclosure Commission is opening a formal investigation into a complaint the home builders filed last month against Envision Spokane.

The Spokane Home Builders Association filed a complaint last month, alleging the citizens group  did not file all the necessary information on where they get their money and how it was spent during the time they were working on the Community Bill of Rights, a proposed amendment to the City Charter that will appear on the November ballot.

Lori Anderson, a spokeswoman for the PDC, said the case was assigned to a staff investigators after an initial review.

The formal investigation may take about 120 days, she said. About three-fourths of all initial complaints are assigned to a staff investigator after they are submitted and undergo an initial review.  

Envision Spokane didn't file its first reports with he PDC until late March and early April, as it was finishing off the process of holding meetings with various groups to draft the plan that expands the rights of neighborhoods, workers and the environment.

The Home Builders contend it should have filed nearly two years earlier, when it first began the process.

In general, the PDC tends to require paperwork be filed early in a campaign, and if one thinks one is working on a charter amendment that one hopes to bring to the ballot, one is campaigning.

If one is just discussing changes, one might not be campaigning.

A formal investigation will involve reviewing documents and interviewing participants, followed by a written report. 

And yes, 120 days would be after the election. But that's about how long these things can take.

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