Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico
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Through Judiciary and Administration (government)
Historical background
From 1692 to 1840, the office of mayor 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. 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. 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.
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First popularly elected mayor
Ponce's first 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. 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 different occasions between 1812 and 1846. In 2008, María "Mayita" Meléndez Altieri, from the New Progressive Party became 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.
Titles
Throughout the centuries, the Ponce municipal heads of government, may have held titles different than the modern title of "Mayor". 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 different titles held, the people in this position were the maximum civil authority at the municipal level. "Alcaldes" in the Spanish colonial tradition referred to a 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.
18th century
Source: Eduardo Neumann Gandía, Puerto Rico Encyclopedia, and Neysa Rodríguez Deynes.