A land deal in Provo with roots stretching back more than a decade may provide a spark in Provo's political silo to ignite the city's 2009 mayoral race.

The burn has already begun, with Councilman George Stewart and Mayor Lewis Billings beginning to size each other up. Billings said he would probably run again; Stewart said if that happened he wouldn't be afraid to run against him.

The spark was provided by the move of Action Target from west Provo to Ironton after years of complaints from residents about noise and odor. The city has been working to build a new business park on the property near the Springville-Provo border.

While the move has been touted as a win-win, recent reports in Salt Lake newspapers about the deal have rehashed Billings's old connection to the Ironton property and suggested that he stands to benefit personally because he still has an interest in some landlocked parcels there.

Billings disclosed his land holdings at Ironton more than 10 years ago, before he was first hired on the city staff by then-Mayor, now-Councilman Stewart. Some of the property had been polluted by steel-making operations of USX, and required the intervention of a public agency to get cleanup rolling. Billings was key in that process and even donated some acreage to the city to settle a dispute over parcels that were not polluted.

Later, to avoid any perception of conflict of interest, he removed himself from control of the property by placing it into a blind trust months after being elected mayor in 1997. A blind trust is controlled by a trustee without the public official's knowledge of how the assets are being administered. Billings said he regularly acknowledges the trust in yearly disclosure forms required by state law.

All this was thoroughly reported in the news media, including the Daily Herald, over the years.

Richard Hall, who has been an attorney for Billings for more than 25 years, said the Ironton property is still in the trust, but that it isn't worth much because it's landlocked. He said that as issues came up about the Ironton area, Billings has consistently removed himself from official meetings to avoid any appearance of impropriety.

In the media reports earlier this week, Stewart and fellow-Councilman Steve Turley expressed surprise that Billings still owned property in the Ironton area. Reacting to the articles, Billings moved to defend himself against what he saw as an implied attack on his character. He dropped off documents at news outlets showing the history of his disclosures and other actions regarding the property.

When Stewart learned of the press kit, he released his own memo Thursday, stating that he had not suggested impropriety on the mayor's part and that he meant simply that he was unaware Billings was still connected to property. His vote, he said, would still have been for the Action Target deal.

Billings thought otherwise. "The only thing I can rationalize is that there's some political ambition here," Billings said.

Whatever the stakes in the property issue, what is increasingly clear is that the gap between the two men is increasing. Stewart has made no bones that he is interested in occupying the mayor's seat again. Until this week, Billings has been on the fence about running for re-election.

"These kind of antics cause my kettle to boil very quickly," Billings said. "I'm probably going to be back for another round."

Stewart denies any antics.

"I really resent being fingered as someone who would do that," he said, adding that he wasn't aware of Billings's current Ironton holdings until asked questions by a reporter from the Deseret Morning News several days ago. "When I answer honestly, I'm accused of being underhanded or devious. That's not fair," he said.

Interviewed Thursday, both men expanded the subject matter to include their differences on other issues, including the controversial iProvo fiber-optic system.

"There's supposed to be a healthy tension in our form of government. But it's becoming unhealthy and it's not productive," Billings said. "George attacked me in a way I thought was nonproductive on iProvo and any number of things."

The two recently clashed over how to fund a shortfall in iProvo funding. The mayor favored a loan from the city's energy department while Stewart favored using sales tax revenue.

Stewart says iProvo is indeed a problem that needs a fresh perspective and that another term for Billings would be too much. He said perhaps Billings isn't handling the tension that comes with a strong mayor form of government as well as he could be.

"I think we do need a change after three terms," he said.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.