Anyone who has lived in Pierce County for a few election cycles can hardly be surprised by news that developers are flexing their financial muscle in local political races.

This county isn’t called the poster child for uncontrolled sprawl for nothing. Developers have wielded a lot of influence over the decades, and they didn’t become a force by sitting on the sidelines.

As The News Tribune’s David Wickert reported this week, three prominent builders and developers have contributed a total of $50,500 to county executive candidates.

The local companies – Investco, Corliss Resources and Tucci & Sons – and their executives have given far in excess of the $800 limit on contributions by any single person or business.

Nothing illegal about that. State law permits companies to contribute through their affiliates, and builders tend to form a lot of limited liability companies in the normal course of doing business.

Whether allowing a company’s affiliates to make multiple contributions to a single candidate is wise campaign finance policy is another editorial. But for now, suffice it to say that the Corliss and Tucci families are not doing anything wrong or even out of the ordinary.

Voters are free to draw their own conclusions about the hefty donations — given mainly to Republican Shawn Bunney and Democrat Calvin Goings – and what they say about those candidates. They are free to use the information to press the candidates for answers about their commitment to smart growth, and to hold them accountable for their decisions if elected.

That’s the beauty of public disclosure. It is the single best check on the corrupting nature of money in politics.

Connecting the dots has become a good deal easier in recent years, but it still takes some digging. To discover that Investco was the source of campaign cash from donors with names such as Afterglow Beach and Windsong Ranch, The News Tribune had to download information from the Public Disclosure Commission, track down companies’ addresses and then crosscheck them with the Secretary of State’s office.

Anyone can do it, but the average voter just doesn’t have that kind of time. The promise of disclosure would be never be completely realized without reporters determined to get at the truth.

Tracking builders’ interest in county politics matters because Pierce County cannot afford to abandon the hard-won protections promoting sensible land-use planning and open space preservation. A donation by itself doesn’t equal influence peddling, but disclosure of it puts candidates on notice that voters are watching.