A California official is praising Camping World for its towering U.S. flag display in French Camp after tensions over permitting issues, calling the public standoff "great marketing" as he pushes his county to go honor Americans who became prisoners of war or missing in action.
"We welcome their business and the flag," Tom Patti, a member of the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors, told Fox News Digital. "From the very beginning, we would’ve preferred they followed a traditional protocol of getting a permit."
After more than a year of back and forth over permitting requirements, he said the county has received documentation from Camping World and approved the company's plans. The flag is already flying above the sprawling lot once more.
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"These guys go forward, they put big flag poles into the ground, but they don't go for advanced permitting in any capacity," he said. If it becomes an issue, the company winds up getting massive public support – and potential new customers.
Patti, a former boxer who trained with Mike Tyson, said a number of voters, many of them veterans, approached him to defend the flag. He too had supported the flag and separately pushed for the county to commemorate Flag Day with the POW/MIA flag alongside the American Flag above its headquarters.
"We'll have to assume that it was either a fantastic marketing opportunity, or they didn’t do the research that a permit would be required," Patti said. "Once we got the info we requested, we issued a permit, and it’s a done deal for us."
Patti, who previously had a career in the installation of large commercial signs, said he didn't believe that Camping World would risk installing an unsafe base. The retailer has similar large flags at many of its 250 locations around the country.
"I'm certain that Camping World is not looking for lawsuits in the future," he said. "We are taking their word for it."
County zoning rules were meant to address concerns about the depth and width of the pole's underground base to ensure it wouldn't be at risk of toppling over, he said. The county had requested a site plan back in June 2023 and received it roughly a year later, he said. The numbers checked out, and the country granted a permit this week.
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The county requires permits for structures above 30 feet tall. Camping World's flag pole stretched 130 feet skyward.
San Joaquin officials have denied claims that they ordered the retailer to take down the flag or issued any citations.
The county requested site plans and engineering drawings in June 2023 after the flag went up before the retailer got a permit, according to county officials. Partial plans were turned over in December and the full documents arrived in June 2024.
In a statement, the county said some of its employees had been harassed and threatened over the standoff and asked for people to show "common decency and courtesy."
"We want to express our appreciation for your patriotism. We fully support the display of our flag and welcome local businesses, especially those that share our patriotic spirit," the county wrote in a letter to concerned residents. "However, we do require adherence to the permitting process to ensure safety and proper access for everyone."
Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis had the flag raised on Monday, days before the permit came through.
Lemonis, who immigrated to the U.S. from Lebanon, is a staunch defender of the flag and has been involved in similar standoffs with local authorities around the country. He told Fox News as far back as 2019 that he'd rather get locked up than shrink the scale of his patriotic displays.
"When veterans show up at the stores for the flag-raisings, and when they come on Saturdays and do their veteran rides, and they weep at the bottom of the flag pole, that's the conviction that I need to say it's just not going to come down," he said. "I would rather go to jail."
Lemonis could not immediately be reached for comment on the French Camp permit.
Fox News' Kristine Parks contributed to this report.
