Is a Corn Dog a Hot Dog? This Meaty Question May Be Debated in Court

Consider the corn dog.

Fried, puffy, a fine candidate for mustard.

Yes, but not commonly considered a good reason for a landlord-tenant dispute, maybe even a lawsuit. Until now, that is.

Norman Lebovitz, 53, owner of Sluggo’s, has been served formal notice by the Hahn Co., owners of University Towne Centre shopping mall in San Diego:

Quit selling corn dogs. Or face eviction.

The Hahn Co. says Lebovitz violated his lease at UTC’s Food Pavilion by adding corn dogs to his menu, which specializes in spicy Chicago-style hot dogs.

Kim Wenrick, Hahn’s director of corporate communications, says it’s not just a matter of protecting Hot Dog on a Stick, which sells corn dogs from a stand near Sluggo’s.

Wenrick says there would be “chaos” if all 16 vendors at the Food Pavilion were allowed to follow Sluggo’s renegade example and begin selling items that are not on their approved menus.

Good point. Imagine the havoc if Great Gyros sold crepes, and La Crepe sold baklava, and Orange Julius went berserk and peddled pizza.

Wenrick says Lebovitz was warned when he signed his lease last year not to sell corn dogs. Lebovitz says corn dogs were never discussed.

Lebovitz has a history of not backing down. Last year, he fought the National Football League over the scrambling of telecasts.

“I’m a strange guy,” he said. “If I’m sure I’m right, I’ll go broke proving it.”

He says any similarity between his corn dogs and Hot Dog on a Stick corn dogs is purely coincidental.

Lebovitz considers his corn dogs as fully credentialed hot dogs, just dressed in a different fashion: an all-beef hot dog wrapped in cornmeal, fried in peanut oil.

“I’ve been selling hot dogs for 40 years. These people are going to tell me what a hot dog is? Mind-boggling.”

The Hahn Co. sees it differently: a corn dog is a corn dog, and a lease is a lease.

A couple of weeks ago Lebovitz was given a 30-day notice. He’s ready for a court fight:

“Can you imagine 12 jurors eating corn dogs?”

‘I Am Not a Crook’

Things of varying importance.

* It’s come to this:

Congressmen sending out press releases attesting to their honesty. Even before anyone questioned it.

Rep. Ron Packard (R-Carlsbad) issued an announcement this week that he is not among those congressmen who have bounced checks on their House bank accounts.

* The silent treatment.

Employees of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego have been told by their superiors not to give interviews or provide information to San Diego Catholic News Notes.

News Notes is a monthly publication with a decidedly conservative and anti-abortion slant. The diocese thinks it’s been unfair.

* Militant bumper sticker, seen in North County: “Tobacco Is a Drug. Smokers Are Drug Addicts.”

* The next political fight over animals may concern pet overpopulation.

A newly formed coalition called SNAP (Spay Neuter Action Project) has asked the Board of Supervisors to fund a spay-neuter program for low-income pet owners.

SNAP holds a fund-raiser Saturday night at the home of Encinitas Councilwoman Pam Slater. Special guest: Actor-Del Mar resident Martin Milner.

* Politics of the street.

Candidate debates are usually held on weekday nights, in comfy places like school auditoriums.

So why is a Pacific Beach group playing host to a debate for Councilman Bruce Henderson and challenger Valerie Stallings at 8 a.m. Saturday, at the busy corner of Grand Avenue and Noyes Street?

Because that’s where illegal immigrants and others gather each morning to solicit employment, a problem the PB group wants the City Council to address.

Henderson will be there. Not so Stallings, whose campaign says the event is an “ambush” by Henderson.

Bronx Cheers for City of Angels

How do San Diegans really feel about Los Angeles?

On a Southwest flight from San Francisco to San Diego the other night, the pilot pointed out the lights of L.A. from 29,000 feet.

Passengers booed.