"It's illegal," he said with a laugh, referring to the city's term-limit law.

They are, in general, open seats because term-limit laws are forcing incumbent Council members out of office.

That's when the city's term-limit law takes effect, putting nearly every elected office, including 36 of 51 City Council seats, up for grabs.

In some states, like California and Colorado, the first impact of term-limit laws was felt in 1998.

My own are that the experiment was tried, and now we need term-limit laws.

The city's term-limit laws prevented him from running for reelection to his Council seat last year.

All are running in districts where term-limit laws have prevented incumbents from seeking re-election.

In 1990, just three states had term-limit laws.

He is barred under the city's term-limit laws from running for re-election next year for his Council seat.

He has spent millions of dollars to promote and defend the term-limit law, including helping to block a referendum challenge in 1996.