It's election season, when hyperbole is common, but Chamblee officials say they're dead serious about a charge that DeKalb County Chief Executive Officer Vernon Jones deserves criticism for a recent killing there because DeKalb refused to clean up the murder site.

Chamblee Mayor Eric Clarkson and Police Chief Marc Johnson say Jones has personally been the stumbling block in getting a piece of county-owned land in the north DeKalb city cleaned up —- and now a slaying has happened in the overgrown woods. On June 24, police say 35-year-old Galdino Cruz Salinas was killed on a neglected plot of county land at the north end of the DeKalb-Peachtree Airport.

"One person stood in the way of that [the cleanup] being done —- Vernon Jones," the mayor said.

Jones, through a spokeswoman, said Clarkson was trying to shift blame for the killing.

"It is unfortunate that Mayor Clarkson chooses to divert attention from his responsibilities in public safety to highlight issues dealing with governmental relations," according to a statement issued by county spokeswoman Kristie Swink.

Jones said in his statement that the matter "has been addressed." Cleanup of the property, he said, should be done by Monday.

Jones said Clarkson never talked to him about the land. Clarkson said a letter he sent to the county last year went unanswered. And both Clarkson and City Manager Kathy Brannon said that during a meeting in 2006 with Brannon, Jones directly rejected a request to lease the land to the city.

"We said we would spend our money, city money, to create a passive park," Clarkson said. "Vernon Jones rather rudely said no, he would take care of it."

Jones, who is leaving the CEO post because of term limits, is a candidate for the Democratic nomination to oppose Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

Clarkson does not have to run under a party banner for his city post. He said he is unaffiliated, voting absentee on a Republican ballot for next week's primary election and on a Democratic ballot during the last primary.

"I have never given funds to anyone or endorsed anyone in the Senate race," Clarkson said. "I am specifically speaking out against Vernon because he specifically stood up at a meeting and said personally, 'Absolutely no way will I work with the city (on this issue). I'll handle it.' "

The land in question used to be homes north of the county-owned airport runway. Starting in 1997, the Federal Aviation Authority spent more than $25 million to buy those houses and relocate residents rattled by the jets' roar.

The FAA restricts development on such noise-abatement land. City leaders claim the county, as the new owners, never turned the space into a passive walking park as planned.

Worse, they say the county never maintained the land. Tired of mowing and clearing the property, Brannon made the 2006 bid for the city to lease the land.

County commissioners were willing to talk about it, Brannon said, but Jones refused to consider any deal.

"Millions of dollars went into it, and for nothing," she said. "It's supposed to be something good. It's becoming something bad."

Nearby residents have trampled part of the property to near dirt, creating a makeshift soccer field. But on most of the site, with kudzu, weeds and brush blocking clear views, police say some people have taken up drinking and partying.

Police Chief Johnson said the city cracked down on such trouble spots in recent years, forcing property owners to clean up overgrown areas. With police easily able to see what people are up to, he said, crime dropped.