ATHENS, Ga. - The Hot Dog Man is taking the University of Georgia to court.
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In a case he sees as "David v. Goliath," John Gundaker will be in Clarke County Superior Court on Monday seeking an injunction that would allow his return to the location where he has sold hot dogs to students and faculty members for the past 20 years.
On the first day of the new school year Monday, UGA police arrested the 50-year-old Athens resident on a charge of criminal trespass.
Improvements to the UGA campus in 2002 redirected a sidewalk from the county's right-of-way, placing it instead on university property.
Because UGA doesn't issue vendor permits, Mr. Gundaker can no longer sell his food in the spot he has used for years.
University officials say they won't bend the rules for anyone.
Doug Ross, the director of the UGA Auxiliary Services Division, said Mr. Gundaker's hot dog wagon created an "unsafe" condition at the intersection, which is heavily traveled by students moving to and from the school's North and South campuses.
Mr. Gundaker's arrest has resulted in news articles in the campus and local newspapers, and a "Free the Hot Dog Man" movement by UGA students.
UGA spokesman Chuck Toney said that, even in the face of negative publicity, the university will not bend its no-vendor policy for Mr. Gundaker, because to do so would open the doors for other vendors.
"The problem with making a policy exception is, once you open the campus to vendors, you end up with a flea market, and we do not want a flea market on campus," Mr. Toney said. "It's a matter of respect for the campus and respect for the students and faculty who are there doing important work."
Mr. Gundaker's arrest continued a long-standing beef between the university and the vendor who made his career selling students their lunchtime and late-night meals.
For many of the years since the Hot Dog Man opened for business in 1984, he held an Athens-Clarke County permit to operate on the sidewalk near UGA's North Campus.
Mr. Gundaker, who was released from the Clarke County Jail early Monday afternoon on $1,500 bond, will be in Superior Court Judge David Sweat's courtroom Tuesday for a 4 p.m. hearing on his request for the injunction.
"Hopefully I'll be back selling hot dogs on campus late Tuesday afternoon," Mr. Gundaker said.
WEB SUPPORT
The controversy has prompted the creation of a Web site by supporters of The Original Hot Dog Man: axe-dougross.tripod.com.
