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What was once a political skirmish may be verging on war.

Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez on Aug. 21 accused City Council President Debbie O'Malley of "trying to put money in her former employer's pocket."

"You have an incumbent that is well-known, who has very much spent her time feathering a very narrow special interest in the district," Chavez said while answering questions about his endorsement of Katherine Martinez, O'Malley's opponent in her Oct. 2 re-election bid. "It's been very apparent from Day One that the councilor has really tried to put money into her former employer's pocket, the Sawmill Land Trust.

"It's awkward for us in the administration when you use a position to put money into a former employer's (pocket)."

The accusation outraged O'Malley, who founded the nonprofit Sawmill Community Land Trust as a community development corporation in 1995, serving as its executive director for six years.

"That is so out of line," O'Malley said after hearing of the allegations. "This is a nonprofit corporation that has received national acclaim for providing affordable housing. That is very disrespectful to me and to that organization to even suggest that I am doing that.

"That's a low, low blow."

O'Malley said the city has a master development agreement with the land trust to bring affordable housing to a 27-acre industrial area south of I-40 and east of Rio Grande Boulevard.

She accused Chavez of refusing to release grant money to the project.

"He's basically holding back contracts," she said. "Whenever he gets mad at me, Sawmill takes a hit."

And the fight rages on.