List of mayors of Ponce, Puerto Rico

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This is a list of mayors of Ponce, Puerto Rico's southern economic center, the island's second largest[1] and second most important city.[2][3]

From 1692 to 1840, the office of mayor[a] in Ponce was filled either by local hacendados or by military officers appointed by the governor, depending on whether the political situation on Spain at the time was that of a constitutional or an absolutist government.[4] From 1840 to 1870, mayors were oftentimes elected by the municipal council, whose members were called regidores. In 1870, political parties were created for the first time and municipal officials were elected by the people at large, and the mayor, as well as the members of the municipal council, would belong to one of the two parties active, either the Partido Liberal Reformista or the Partido Incondicional Español.[5] With the advent of the American political system in Puerto Rico after the American invasion of 1898, the mayor was elected by popular vote, which is the system still (2019) in place.

Ponce's first[b] mayor was Don Pedro Sánchez de Mathos, in 1692, appointed by governor Juan Robles de Lorenzana. Ponce elected its first mayor (as well as its first Municipal Assembly) on 20 September 1812.[6] Its first elected mayor was José Ortiz de la Renta, who took office in 1812. Ortiz de la Renta occupied the post of mayor on eight occasions between 1812 and 1846.

The mayor of Ponce is Luis Irizarry Pabón, elected in 2020, from the Partido Popular Democratico and who succeeded María "Mayita" Meléndez Altieri of the Partido Nuevo Progresista. Mayita had been the first woman elected to the office of mayor by the people of Ponce in its extensive political history. She was also the first mayor of a party other than the Popular Democratic Party in Ponce since 1989, when Rafael "Churumba" Cordero Santiago won the elections and took the oath of office that same year.

Current Mayor Luis Irizarry Pabon was discharged on November 1 2023 for Corruption charges, in succession, the Vice-Mayor Marlese Sifre was appointed to be the in charge of the municipality.

Throughout the centuries the Ponce municipal heads of government listed here as "mayors" may have held titles different from the modern title of "Mayor".[c] Some of the other titles held were Teniente a guerra, Corregidor, Alcalde mayor, Alcalde ordinario, Justicia mayor, Alcalde constitucional, Alcalde en propiedad, Alcalde real ordinario, and Comandante militar. Regardless of the titles held, the people listed here were the maximum civil authority at the municipal level. In the lists that follow, "Alcalde" refers to the Spanish colonial position attained via election by the regidores (council members) of the municipal council, and refers to someone who had both judicial and administrative functions. "Mayor", on the other hand, refers to a local executive, elected by the people, with administrative functions only.

  1. ^ Long Range Multimodal Transportation Plan: 2032 Puerto Rico Five Transportation Planning Regions. Long Range Transportation Plan. Strategic Planning Office. Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority. Department of Transportation and Public Works. May 2012. p. 7. Archived at the WayBack Machine on 5 October 2012.
  2. ^ Port of the Americas. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Port of the Americas Authority. Archived 12 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 8 March 2010.
  3. ^ CAAPPR invita a visita a la zona histórica de Ponce. El Nuevo Dia. (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.) Special section "Construcción el Nuevo Dia". 22 February 2016. Accessed 16 July 2019.
  4. ^ Guillermo Baralt. Buena Vista: Life and Work in a Puerto Rican Hacienda. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. 1999. p. 131.
  5. ^ Socorro Giron. Ramon Marin y su Tiempo. In, Ramon Marin's Las Fiestas Populares de Ponce. Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico. 1994. p. 16.
  6. ^ Ponce se prepara para celebrar su día mundial. Darisabel Texidor Guadalupe. Primera Hora. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2013.


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