It took four years, but the Fair Political Practices Commission looked into a mass mailing made by a candidate and his committee and found they violated the Political Reform Act.

In 2005, Joseph Gibson was a candidate for Ventura County Supervisor, District 2, when he and his “controlled committee” sent out a mass mailing that didn’t include identifying information required by law, the commission found. A controlled committee is defined as any person or combination of persons that act jointly with the candidate who receive contributions totaling $1,000 or more in a calendar year.

The commission is assessing Gibson and his Gibson for Supervisor committee a $2,500 penalty. The election was held June 6, 2006. Gibson lost the election to incumbent Linda Parks.

The commission found that a year before the election, in July or August 2005, the Gibson for Supervisor committee paid for and sent a postcard via mass mailing to 5,000 people. It directed readers to a website to take a survey about public services in Ventura County.

The survey was a “push poll” regarding Gibson’s opponent Parks, according to the commission. A push poll is a phony survey created to influence participants in the poll instead of actually gathering and analyzing data.

Under the Political Reform Act, a mass mailing must include identifying information regarding the sender if the sender is a candidate or a committee. The violation charged by the commission states that Gibson and the committee sent a mass mailing that didn’t display the proper name, address and city of the candidate and committee. Additionally, the name of the person controlling the committee must be included.

Failure to provide proper sender identification for a mass mailing deprives the public of important information regarding the sponsor of the mailing, according to the commission.

The typical penalty for failing to identify the sender of a mass mailing varies depending on the facts of each case. One count of violating the act carries a maximum fine of $5,000.

Gibson and the committee cooperated with the investigation by the enforcement division of the commission and agreed to an early settlement, the commission report said.