Before getting down to business Monday night, Mayor Bill Bell and City Council members honored outgoing Councilman Farad Ali.

Bell remarked on Ali's sense of humor and "booming voice" that "added levity to the council at very important times." To which Ali (right) responded,

"Can I leave now?"

Ali, after serving one four-year term, opted not to run for re-election this year. Just-elected Councilman Steve Schewel took over Ali's accustomed seat between Councilwoman Diane Catotti and City Attorney Patrick Baker.

For his part, Ali remarked on his council colleagues' qualities and quirks: Cora Cole-McFadden's concern for children; Catotti's thorough preparation; Mike Woodard's seeming omnipresence; Eugene Brown for "always showing me there's an argument to an argument."

Howard Clement, whom Ali called the council's "dean" – having held his seat since 1983 – missed the meeting. As for Bell, Ali said, "We didn't always know where he was coming from because we always thought he was playing poker."

Wrapping up, he said, "God bless America, God bless Durham and God bless you, Steve Schewel!"

At the end of Monday night's City Council meeting, Councilman Farad Ali stood and shouted:

"Hallelujah! Halleluja! Hallelujah!"

Monday was Ali's last full council meeting. His term expires when the council members elected Nov. 8 are sworn in Dec. 5 and Ali, elected in 2007, did not run for re-election.

Monday night, spotting incoming Councilman Steve Schewel in the audience, Ali called:

"Mr. Steve Schewel! Come forward! The seat is warm!"

Schewel called back, "I've changed my mind!"

 The City Council doesn't have any authority over the courts in Durham, but two council members spoke their minds about the ongoing feud between District Attorney Tracey Cline and Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson.

"I've practiced law in this town for close to 39 years," said Councilman Howard Clement, "and I've never seen anything like this.

"I don't think the council can do anything specifically about it," Clement said, "but I just couldn't let the evening pass without mentioning it."

Last week, Cline accused Hudson of "moral turpitude, dishonesty and corruption," and said she will seek to remove Hudson from overseeing any criminal case in Durham. Councilman Eugene Brown had similar comments.

"This has become an embarrassment that needs to be resolved in a fair and equitable manner as soon as possible," Brown said.

"We're better than this, folks. We're better than this."

City Councilman Howard Clement (below left) hasn't forgotten about city-county merger. He revived the subject in 2008 during a meeting of city and county officials, and brought it up again when they met again this week.

"I would like to know where we are," he said, reminding City Manager Tom Bonfield and County Manger Mike Ruffin that they were asked to be "looking into opportunities to merge our operations."

Bonfield mentioned fleet management and a fiber-optic network, and Ruffin mentioned purchasing as areas considered for cooperation.

"The process has not been concluded because it is a continuing process," Bonfield said.

Over the past three years, Clement has repeatedly spoken out in favor of a complete consolidation of city and county governments, an idea advanced from time to time since the mid-1920s. Twice, in 1961 and 1974, merger has gone to a public referendum and both times was overwhelmingly rejected.

"I know there's been resistance here in Durham to even consider merging operations," Clement said. He maintains, though, that combining governments would improve efficiency and save taxpayers' money.

"The question is not will we merge, the question is when we merge, how we merge," Clement said.

Councilman Eugene Brown, though, said the two managers' approach is a good one.

"It may seem incremental," Brown said, "but incremental progress is better than no progress at all."

Durham's City Council voted to put off any action on utility extension or annexation for the proposed 751 South subdivision until a pending lawsuit is resolved.

The vote came at the end of a two-hour meeting on the developer's requests.

Currently, zoning that would allow the town-size project is the subject of a lawsuit against Durham County. A number of property owners near the project site hold that their protest petition against the zoning was improperly ruled invalid.

After the suit was filed in 2010, Southern Durham Development requested annexation by the city, or an agreement for connections to the city water and sewer systems without being annexed.

The lawsuit is scheduled for trial in November.

"I don't understand why the pressure point has fallen on us," said Councilman Mike Woodard, who introduced the motion to "take no action until all pending legal issues are resolved."

His motion passed. Councilman Howard Clement favored proceeding with a water-sewer agreement as long as it could be written so as to have no effect on the lawsuit, but his motion died for lack of a second.

Councilman Farad Ali was absent.

"Of all the issues I've encountered," said Councilman Eugene Brown, "this is the one I lay  a wkae at night worrying about."

Since its proposal in early 2008, 751 South has generated fierce controversy over environmental, economic, political, ethical and legal issues. Some of the latter have been carried as far as the state Attorney General's office.

Durham County Commissioner Joe Bowser is running for mayor.

Bowser, who has more than a year left on his current county term, filed this morning to challenge incumbent Mayor Bill Bell. Bowser followed Sylvester Williams, an East Durham pastor, who filed earlier today.

Filing for the 2011 municipal election closed at noon with four candidates for mayor and eight for three at-large seats on the City Council. Ralph McKinney Jr., who ran unsuccessfuly for Council in 2001, entered the race for mayor on Thursday.

Bell is seeking a sixth consecutive two-year term.

Donald Hughes, a previous, but unsuccessful, candidate for City Council and School Board, also filed this morning. He completed the Council field, joining private citizens Alice Bailey, Solomon Burnette, Victoria Peterson, Steve Schewel and John Tarantino.

Two-term incumbent Council members Eugene Brown and Diane Catotti are also in the race.

Durham holds a primary election Oct. 11. The general election is Nov. 8.

A fifth candidate joined the candidate field for a seat on the City Council today.

Durham evangelist Alice Bailey, who directs the Outreach Street Ministry Restore and also goes by Alice Bailey-McKinnis, filed for an at-large council position.

Incumbent council members Eugene Brown and Diane Catotti have filed for re-election to their at-large seats. Former Victoria Peterson, director of the vocational training nonprofit Triangle Citizens Rebuilding Communities, and former Durham Public Schools board member Steve Schewel have also filed.

The filing period for this fall's municipal election closes at noon Friday.

Incumbent Eugene Brown filed today for re-election to a third four-year term on the city council. He was the fourth candidate to formally enter the running for one of three at-large seats for voters to fill this fall.

Incumbent Diane Catotti and challengers Steve Schewel and Victoria Peterson filed earlier in the week.

Incumbent Bill Bell remains the only candidate filed for mayor. Bell is seeking his sixth consecutive term in the office.

Downtown Durham Inc. President Bill Kalkhof has been often mentioned as a possible candidate for city council some day, but this week Kalkhof announced, "That day is not today."

In a letter to "friends and supporters," Kalkhof (right) acknowledged that he does plan to run for public office, but now he enjoys his job and feels he has work still to do at DDI. Also that he would need to retire from DDI if he ran, and whenever he does retire he plans "to take some time for myself."

Kalkhof has led DDI since its creation in the early 1990s.

With filing opening at noon Monday, Durham has four announced candidates for three at-large city council seats: incumbents Eugene Brown and Diane Catotti, and challengers Steve Schewel and Victoria Peterson. Filing for the fall elections closes Aug. 12.