In the fall of 2005, six current members of the New York City Council and Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields will not be able to run for reelection because of the city's term limits law.

Term limits, which restrict city officials to two consecutive four-year terms in office, were approved by voters in two referenda. It first went into effect in 2002.

All city officials - including the mayor, public advocate, city comptroller, the borough presidents, and all 51 City Council members - are up for reelection in 2005. Primary Day is September 13, 2005; the General Election is November 8, 2005.

The chart below shows when City Council members were elected and when they will be kicked out of office. (For more on how to read the chart, see the bottom of the page.)

Names in bold are term-limited in 2005.

Term limits only apply to consecutive terms. The "Can't Run" heading assumes the elected official remains in office and continues to be reelected.

While term limits usually restricts lawmakers to eight years in office, some can serve longer. Those who took office in a special election in the middle of a term can serve more than eight years, because the time before the next regularly scheduled election does not count toward their two consecutive four-year terms. Also every ten years, the four-year terms are shortened to two, two- year terms when council lines are redrawn with new census data.