Lt. Gov. Davis Fired Up at Ban on Legion’s Flag Rite

California’s lieutenant governor did a slow burn Wednesday after learning that county officials had ordered Ventura’s American Legion Post to halt its traditional burning of worn-out Old Glorys because it violates air pollution laws.

So Gray Davis plans to initiate legislation to exempt the ritualized disposal of the American flag from state pollution control laws.

“I think it’s outrageous that a protester can burn the American flag and the Supreme Court calls it free speech, but the American Legion can’t honorably retire a flag without fouling the air,” said Davis, a legion member. “It’s my hope we can pass legislation which at a minimum can exempt Ventura County from that [regulatory] burden and possibly apply it statewide.”

The issue began smoldering after officials from the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District received a complaint from a local resident about the legion’s June 18 flag-burning ceremony. The event is held at least once a year at the legion’s headquarters at Palm and Santa Clara streets in downtown Ventura.

On this occasion, more than 100 tattered and faded flags were burned with kerosene in a barbecue pit outside the legion hall during a formal ceremony complete with color guard.

“We’ve been doing this since 1948 and this is the very first complaint we’ve gotten,” said Paul Rodriguez, post commander. “We’re trying to do this the right way, the American Legion way . . . and we get threatened with a citation.”

Scott Johnson, spokesman for the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District, said state law and local regulations don’t permit unregulated outdoor burning.

But, he said, there are certain exemptions, such as fires to clear farm fields.

“We looked into it from the perspective of a public nuisance,” Johnson said. “Right now, we’re trying to internally figure out whether or not we can find an exemption.”

No citations have been issued, he said.

But the dispute has become a cry to battle for those who see the issue as a bureaucratic assault on the patriotic act of honorably retiring an American symbol.

“I believe whoever is causing a stink down there should have a flag shoved down their throat,” said Vic Chase, ex-commander of the Sons of the Legion group in Ojai.

Legion officials at posts in Ojai, Oxnard and Camarillo say they have received no warnings about their periodic flag-burning rituals.

And Johnson said none of the state’s other pollution control districts has encountered the issue.

The lieutenant governor spent about 25 minutes at the Ventura Legion Post on Wednesday after hearing about the uproar while in town on another matter.

“I think most Americans would agree this is ridiculous,” Davis said. “We don’t want to throw the American flag down the waste disposal.

“Clearly the bureaucrats look a little silly,” he added. “They may argue they’re doing their job and technically they’re right. Now the elected officials are on notice; we have a responsibility to resolve this issue so we don’t put folks working for the Air Pollution Control District on the hot seat.”

Davis, who is running for governor, is co-chairman of Citizens Flag Alliance, a legion-sponsored group that is seeking a constitutional amendment to outlaw flag desecration. He served as a captain in the Army in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star.

Rodriguez, meanwhile, is thankful to have the support of the state’s second-highest ranking public official. For the moment, the post has asked people not to bring in any more Stars and Stripes for disposal.

Johnson welcomes Davis’ assistance in resolving what has become a burning issue in more ways than one.

“I wouldn’t consider myself unpatriotic,” Johnson said, defending his agency’s position to cleanse the air of chest-seizing, eye-smarting pollutants. “Whether or not it’s a patriotic event, I’m sure people wouldn’t want to hurt other people with a ceremony.”