COHOES — A Cohoes councilman called 911 on Tuesday night and alleged that Mayor Shawn M. Morse had threatened to choke him during a heated argument in front of City Hall.

Councilman Randy Koniowka said the confrontation took place following a contentious workshop during which he questioned whether it was a violation of the city’s ethics code for the mayor’s stepdaughter to have a job with the parks department.

Koniowka told police the mayor stood inches from his face during the argument and, at one point, also allegedly threatened to have the councilman arrested for earlier comments he posted on Facebook about whether the employment of Morse’s "relative" — whom Koniowka did not identify in the post — amounted to nepotism.

“This isn’t a schoolyard, this is City Hall,” Koniowka said when contacted Thursday. “Nobody should be behaving that way, and certainly not elected officials in front of City Hall. We can have heated debate, but that’s where it has to end.”

Both Morse and a city resident who watched the argument, Timothy Thibodeau, disputed the allegations by Koniowka and said that no threats were made.

“There was no incident,” Morse said. “I don’t lie to anybody. I never said anything to Randy except 'Leave my kid alone.'”

Thibodeau, who follows City Hall matters closely, said he did not witness Morse threatening Koniowka with physical violence. He said city police asked him for a statement on Wednesday and he told them the same thing.

“The mayor never threatened him in any way, and that’s what I told the detectives,” Thibodeau said. “It never happened.”

On Facebook posts, Thibodeau has been a harsh critic of Koniowka, referring to him in posts as a "Morse hater" and "loser." In a post last month, Thibodeau suggested he wanted to start a petition to have the councilman step down.

Thibodeau said the argument Tuesday was also sparked by questions that other city officials, including Morse, had raised during the workshop about Koniowka's recent visit to the city’s pool, where he had questioned employees about staffing levels and allegations that non-residents were causing problems.

“I wanted to confirm that with the pool director,” Koniowka said. “I introduced myself to the kid (at the reception desk) and I even gave him my ID, and I said I’d like to speak to the pool director. They’re spinning it like I went down there like I’m some kind of stalker.”

Koniowka told police that during the argument Tuesday in front of City Hall, which took place around 8:15 p.m., he stood his ground as the mayor approached and they came nose to nose. Koniowka alleged at one point during the argument, which lasted several minutes, that he asked Morse if he “had choked those women,” and that the mayor responded, “Yes, and I’m going to choke you, too.”

The councilman acknowledged his comments were in reference to Morse’s wife, Brenda, calling 911 last November and telling a dispatcher that her husband had grabbed her by the neck and thrown her to the ground.

A month after that incident, an ex-girlfriend of Morse’s told the Times Union that she had called Cohoes police multiple times in the 1990s and reported domestic abuse by Morse, including an incident when she said he had grabbed her by the neck and lifted her off the ground. Morse was never arrested for those allegations.

Following the 911 call by Brenda Morse last year, Cohoes police initially handled the investigation, but turned the case over to State Police when questions were raised about their potential conflict of interest. Capt. Todd Pucci, who went to the Morse residence after the 911 call, is a close friend of the mayor’s. Morse is the city’s public safety commissioner and oversees the police department, including hiring and promotional decisions.

Koniowka's allegation that Morse threatened to have him arrested for his Facebook posts comes three months after a judge threw out a harassment charge against a city man who was accused by Morse's cousin, Barbara Borden, of sending her threatening and harassing messages on Facebook. The allegations, which led city police to obtain a warrant and arrest the man, Jeffrey Bagley, were later disproven.

Bagley, 52, has filed a claim against the city alleging his arrest was retribution for speaking out about prior domestic abuse allegations that have been leveled against Morse. Bagley, who is friends with Brenda Morse, alleges she told him that Morse had discussed Bagley's arrest with city police before it took place in January.

Albany County Legislator Richard W. Mendick, whose district includes Bethlehem, told the Times Union that Morse's alleged behavior did not surprise him. Mendick said that more than six years ago, following a county meeting when Morse was also a legislator, that Morse threatened to punch him.

"I don’t remember what the meeting was or what we were talking about," said Mendick, a Republican. "At the end of it I’m walking out the door and Morse comes right up to my face and said, 'You know, I’m going to punch you out.'"

Mendick said he reported the incident to Christine Benedict, who was then the Legislature's minority leader. He said Morse later called him and apologized.

"I was really taken aback by the aggressiveness, but it was pretty much true to form in how Shawn just handled business in the Legislature," Mendick said. "I’d seen him go nose-to-nose with a number of people and say if they didn’t vote for what he wanted they would never get anything passed."

Morse denied Mendick's account and said that he had never threatened him.

"I've never talked to Rich Mendick other than three times in my life and every one of them was on the legislative floor," Morse said.

Cohoes police have not referred the allegations made by Koniowka to another agency. According to Thibodeau and Koniowka, the department secured footage from video surveillance cameras at City Hall that may have captured the argument between the mayor and Koniowka. The cameras are not equipped with audio.

Koniowka said he took notes of what occurred right after the argument. He said that an officer who responded to the 911 call directed him to walk to the police station around the corner. Eventually, Koniowka said, a sergeant informed him that they would not take his complaint and suggested he call Chief William Heslin on Wednesday.

Assistant Chief Tom Ross met with Koniowka on Thursday. He said the department does not need to recuse itself from investigating the allegations.

"There is no case. There is no complaint," Ross said. "There’s some inquiry but I don’t even want to call the guy a complainant. This is not a domestic. … There was no police on scene. This is two guys arguing after a Common Council meeting, at best."

Morse and his wife both were interviewed by State Police in November about her domestic abuse allegation in the 911 call. That investigation has languished in the Albany County district attorney’s office. Brenda Morse initially cooperated in the probe but repeatedly cancelled meetings with investigators, according to law enforcement sources briefed on the case.

Brenda Morse filed for divorce in Albany County Court last month, but last week the case was discontinued.

Shawn Morse, 50, was elected Cohoes mayor in 2015. Before becoming mayor in the city where he grew up, he was chairman of the Albany County Legislature and was a Cohoes firefighter from 1989 to 2015.

He repeatedly blamed Koniowka’s allegations on what he described as a calculated effort by political opponents to derail his administration.

“This is a small group of political people who are trying to capitalize and gain off my family,” Morse said. “Randy Koniowka should be ashamed of himself. … My family deserves better than this. I’m working 19 hours a day to be the mayor of the city and there’s a small group of people who are doing anything they can … to try to bring me down. That’s the dirty side of politics.”

Koniowka, who is in the third year of his first term on the city council, said he's weighing his options but noted the heftiest charge that could be filed against Morse for the allegations is a misdemeanor harassment charge.

"I hope that there can be some sort of mediation to save the city from further embarrassment and legal difficulties," Koniowka said, adding that he hopes to find a way "where the mayor and I can co-exist without incidents like what happened the other night."