List of mayors of Ponce, Puerto Rico facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

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

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.

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 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". 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.

18th century
19th century
20th century
21st century
Other mayors
Pre-1692 mayors
See also

18th century

Source: Eduardo Neumann Gandía, Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico, and Neysa Rodríguez Deynes.

#	Name	In Office	Position Held	Political Party
1	Pedro Sánchez de Mathos	1692 – 1701	Teniente a guerra	N/A
2	Dámaso de Toro	1701 – 1706	Teniente a guerra	N/A
3	Aurelio Juan Ramírez de Arellano	1706 – 1710	Teniente a guerra	N/A
4	Joseph de Toro	1710 – ?	Teniente a guerra	N/A
5	Francisco Ortíz de la Renta	1766	Teniente a guerra	N/A

19th century

Sources: Eduardo Neumann Gandía, Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico, and Neysa Rodríguez Deynes.

#	Name	In Office	Position Held	Political Party
6	José Benítez	1 January 1800 – 31 December 1811	Teniente a guerra	N/A
7	José Ortíz de la Renta	1 January 1812 – 31 December 1813	Alcalde constitucional	N/A
8	José de Toro	1 January 1814 – 31 December 1814	Teniente a guerra	N/A
9	José Ortíz de la Renta	1 January 1815 – 2 January 1816	Teniente a guerra	N/A
10	Alejandro Ordóñez	3 January 1816 – 31 December 1818	Teniente justicia mayor	N/A
11	Juan Dávila	1 January 1819 – 31 December 1819	Alcalde ordinario	N/A
12	Francisco Vassallo	1 January 1820 – ca. 2 May 1820	Comandante militar and alcalde	N/A
13	Joaquín Martínez	ca. 2 May 1820 – ca. 3 June 1820	Alcalde ordinario	N/A
14	José de Toro	ca. 3 June 1820 – ? 1820	Alcalde ordinario	N/A
15	José Ortíz de la Renta	? 1820 – 31 December 1820	Alcalde constitucional	N/A
16	José Casimiro Ortíz de la Renta	1 January 1821 – ?	Alcalde constitucional	N/A
17	Joaquín Tellechea	? 1821 – ? 1821	Alcalde constitucional (interim)	N/A
18	José Casimiro Ortíz de la Renta	? 1821 – 31 December 1821	Alcalde constitucional	N/A
19	José Molina	1 January 1822 – ? 1822	Alcalde constitucional	N/A
20	José Mercado	? 1822 – 31 December 1822	Alcalde constitucional (interim)	N/A
21	José Ortíz de la Renta	1 January 1823 – 31 December 1825	Alcalde propietario	N/A
22	Tomás Pérez Guerra	1 January 1826 – 31 December 1826	Alcalde real ordinario	N/A
23	Julián Villodas	1 January 1827 – 31 December 1830	Teniente a guerra	N/A
24	Tomás de Renovales	1 January 1831 – 31 December 1831	Alcalde	N/A
25	Francisco Vassallo	1 January 1832 – 31 December 1832	Comandante militar and alcalde	N/A
26	Antonio Toro	1 January 1833 – 31 December 1835	Alcalde	N/A
27	Antonio Albizu	1 January 1836 – ? 1836	Teniente alcalde	N/A
28	Juan de Dios Conde	? 1836 – 31 December 1836	Alcalde	N/A
29	José Ortíz de la Renta	1 January 1837 – 31 December 1837	Alcalde	N/A
30	Patricio Colón	1 January 1838 – 31 December 1838	Alcalde	N/A
31	Juan de Dios Conde	1 January 1839 – 31 December 1839	Alcalde	N/A
32	Salvador de Vives	1 January 1840 – 5 January 1842	Alcalde	N/A
33	José Ortíz de la Renta	6 January 1842 – 31 December 1842	Alcalde	N/A
34	Juan Rondón	1 January 1843 – ? 1843	Alcalde	N/A
35	José Ortíz de la Renta	? 1843 - 31 December 1843	Propietario	N/A
36	Bonifacio Martínez de Baños	1 January 1844 – 31 December 1844	Alcalde	N/A
37	Salvador de Vives	1 January 1844 – 24 November 1845	Alcalde en propiedad	N/A
38	Antonio Corro	25 November 1845 – 30 November(?) 1845	Alcalde (interim)	N/A
39	José Zaldo	1 December(?) 1845 – 31 December 1845	Alcalde (interim)	N/A
40	Antonio Corro	1 January 1846 – 31 March 1846	Alcalde (interim)	N/A
41	José Ortíz de la Renta	1 April 1846 – 30 June 1846	Alcalde	N/A
42	José de Jesús Fernández	1 July 1846 – 31 December 1846	Alcalde	N/A
43	David Laporte	1 January 1847 – 30 June 1847	Alcalde	N/A
44	Francisco Romero	1 July 1847 – 31 August 1847	Alcalde	N/A
45	Juan Lacot	1 September 1847 – 31 September 1848	Alcalde	N/A
46	José María Quesada	1 October 1848 – 31 December 1848	Alcalde	N/A
47	Juan Prats	1 January 1849 – 30 June 1849	Alcalde	N/A
48	Esteban Vidal	1 July 1849 – 30 September 1849	Alcalde	N/A
49	Juan Prats	1 October 1849 – 31 December 1849	Alcalde	N/A
50	Flavius Dede	1 January 1850 – 31 March 1850	Alcalde	N/A
51	Coronel Antonio Fortún	1 April 1850 – 8 January 1851	Corregidor	N/A
52	Manuel Cedeño de Poveda	9 January 1851 – 23 April 1851	Corregidor	N/A
53	Guillermo Neumann	23 April 1851 – 30 September 1851	Corregidor	N/A
54	Coronel Vicente Julbe	1 October 1851 – 14 February 1854	Corregidor	N/A
55	Julio Duboc	14 February 1854(?) – 14 March 1854(?)	Alcalde (interim)	N/A
56	Escolástico Fuentes	14 March 1854(?) – 14 April 1854(?)	Alcalde (interim)	N/A
57	Pablo Manfredi	14 April 1854(?) – 14 May 1854(?)	Alcalde (interim)	N/A
58	José Benito Paz Falcón	14 May 1854(?) – 14 June 1854(?)	Alcalde (interim)	N/A
59	Antonio E. Molina	14 June 1854(?) – 23 July 1854(?)	Alcalde (interim)	N/A
60	Coronel Félix O'Neill	24 July 1854 – 31 August 1856	Comandante militar	N/A
61	Pedro Juan Capó	1 September 1856 – 31 December 1856	Corregidor	N/A
62	Hilarión Pérez Guerra	1 January 1857 – 11 July 1863	Corregidor	N/A
63	Coronel Luis de Quixano y Font	11 July 1863 – 23 June 1865	Corregidor	N/A
64	Francisco Olazarra	23 June 1865 – 31 December 1865	Corregidor	N/A
65	Francisco Carreras	1 January 1866 – 31 August 1866	Corregidor	N/A
66	Francisco Romero	1 September 1866 – 31 October 1866 (?)	Corregidor (interim)	N/A
67	Carlos Cabrera y Martínez	1 November 1866 (?) – 1 December 1866	Corregidor (interim)	N/A
68	Coronel Enrique O'Neil	1 December 1866 – 21 January 1867	Corregidor	N/A
69	Demetrio Santaella	21 January 1867 – 31 December 1868	Corregidor	N/A
70	Coronel Elicio Berriz	1 January 1869 – 11 May 1870	Comandante militar	N/A
71	Vicente Pérez Valdivieso	11 May 1870 – 27 July 1871	Alcalde	-
72	Miguel Arribas	28 July 1871 – 31 December 1871	Alcalde	-
73	Coronel Elicio Berriz	1 January 1872 – 31 January 1872 (?)	Comandante militar	-
74	Francisco Arce y Romero	1 February 1872 (?) – 28 February 1872 (?)	Corregidor (interim)	-
75	Alejandro Albizu	1 March 1872 (?) – 26 September 1872	Corregidor (interim)	-
76	Juan Cortada y Quintana	27 September 1872 – 4 February 1874	Alcalde popular	-
77	Pedro Rosalí	4 February 1874 – 5 May 1874	Alcalde	-
78	Rafael León y García	5 May 1874 – 28 April 1875	Alcalde	-
79	Coronel Serafín Donderis	28 April 1875 – 31 March 1876	Alcalde	-
80	Juan José Cartagena	1 April 1876 – 4 July 1879	Alcalde	-
81	Coronel Lucas Jiménez	4 July 1879 – 30 April 1880	Alcalde	-
82	Coronel José Mirelis	1 May 1880 – 31 January 1881	Alcalde delegado	-
83	Juan José Cartagena	1 February 1881 – 31 October 1881	Alcalde	-
84	Andrés Caparrós y García	1 October 1881 – 28 September 1882	Alcalde	-
85	Máximo de Meana y Guridi	28 September 1882 – 31 May 1884	Alcalde delegado	Incondicional Español
86	Rafael de Zárate y Sequera	11 June 1884 – 16 July 1886	Alcalde	Incondicional Español
87	Ramón Elices Montes	16 July 1886 – 31 May 1887	Alcalde	Incondicional Español
88	Ermelindo Salazar	1 June 1887 – 10 July 1887	Alcalde	-
89	Fernando Diez de Ulzurrún y Somellera	10 July 1887 – 4 January 1888	Alcalde	Incondicional Español
90	Juan de Ponte	5 January 1888 – 4 April 1888	Alcalde	Incondicional Español
91	Vicente de Soliveres y Miera	5 April 1888 – 19 March 1889	Alcalde	Incondicional Español
92	Miguel Rosich y Más	8 May 1889 – 31 March 1890	Alcalde	Liberal Reformista
93	Carlos Eusebio de Ayo	12 April 1890 – 2 January 1893	Alcalde	Incondicional Español
94	Comandante José de Nouvilas de Vilar	3 January 1893 – 9 August 1894	Comandante militar	Incondicional Español
95	Eduardo Armstrong	10 August 1894 – 3 May 1895	Alcalde	Liberal Reformista
96	Félix Saurí y Vivas	13 May 1895 – 11 July 1895	Alcalde	Incondicional Español
97	Juan José Potous	12 July 1895 – 10 May 1896	Alcalde	Incondicional Español
98	Comandante Luis Alvarado y González	11 May 1896 – 28 March 1897	Comandante militar	Incondicional Español
99	Miguel Rosich y Más	29 March 1897 - 8 December 1897	Alcalde	Liberal Reformista
100	Luis Gautier	9 December 1897 – 20 June 1898	Alcalde	-
101	Ulpiano Colóm	8 July 1898 – 8 November 1898	Alcalde	-
102	José Lloréns Echevarría	8 November 1898 – 10 November 1898	Alcalde	-
103	Luis Porrata Doria	11 November 1898 – 12 September 1899	Alcalde	-
104	Major Albert L. Myer	12 September 1899 – 1899	Comandante militar	-

20th century

#	Name	In Office	Position Held	Political Party
105	Pedro Juan Rosaly	23 December 1900 – 28 February 1901	Mayor	Republican
106	José de Guzmán Benítez	28 February 1901 – 2 January 1902	Mayor	Republican
107	Enrique Chevalier	2 January 1902 – 2 January 1903	Mayor	Republican
108	Antonio Arias	2 January 1903 – 1 January 1904	Mayor	Republican
109	Manuel V. Domenech	2 January 1904 – 1 January 1905	Mayor	Republican
110	Luis P. Valdivieso	2 January 1905 – 1 January 1906	Mayor	Union
111	Santiago Oppenheimer	2 January 1906 – 1 January 1907	Mayor	Union
112	Simón Moret Gallart	2 January 1907 – 1 January 1915	Mayor	Union
113	Rafael Rivera Esbrí	2 January 1915 – 1 January 1917	Mayor	Union
114	Luis Yordán Dávila	2 January 1917 – 1 January 1918	Mayor	Union
115	Rodulfo del Valle	2 January 1918 – 1 January 1921	Mayor	Union
116	Francisco Parra Capó	2 January 1921 – 1 January 1924	Mayor	Popular ("El Ligao")
117	Abelardo Aguilú, Jr.	2 January 1924 – 1 January 1925	Mayor	Popular ("El Ligao")
118	Guillermo Vivas Valdivieso	2 January 1925 – 2 January 1929	Mayor	Alianza
119	Emilio Fagot	2 January 1929 – 2 January 1933	Mayor	Republican
120	Blas Oliveras	2 January 1933 – 2 January 1937	Mayor	Republican
121	José Tormos Diego	2 January 1937 – 2 January 1941	Mayor	Republican
122	Andrés Grillasca Salas	2 January 1941 – 9 May 1956	Mayor	PPD
123	José Dapena Laguna	9 November 1956 – 1 January 1957	Mayor	PPD
124	Carlos Juan Cintrón	2 January 1957 – 2 January 1961	Mayor	PPD
125	Juan Luis Boscio	2 January 1961 – 2 January 1965	Mayor	PPD
126	Eduardo Ruberté Bisó	2 January 1965 – 2 January 1969	Mayor	PPD
127	Juan H. Cintrón García	2 January 1969 – 2 January 1973	Mayor	PNP
128	Luis A. Morales	2 January 1973 – 2 January 1977	Mayor	PPD
129	José G. Tormos Vega	2 January 1977 – 22 February 1984	Mayor	PNP
130	José Dapena Thompson	22 February 1984 – ?? October 1988	Mayor	PNP
131	Iván Ayala Cádiz	December 1988 – 2 January 1989	Mayor	PNP
132	Rafael Cordero Santiago	2 January 1989 – 2 January 2000	Mayor	PPD

21st century

#	Name	In Office	Position Held	Political Party
132	Rafael Cordero Santiago	2 January 2000 – 17 January 2004	Mayor	PPD
133	Delis Castillo Rivera de Santiago	17 January 2004 – 2 January 2005	Mayor (Interim)	PPD
134	Francisco Zayas Seijo	2 January 2005 – 2 January 2009	Mayor	PPD
135	Maria "Mayita" Meléndez Altieri	12 January 2009 – 11 January 2021	Mayor	PNP
136	Luis Manuel Irizarry Pabón	11 January 2021 – 2 November 2023	Mayor	PPD
134	Marlene Sifre Rodriguez	2 November 2023 – present	Mayor (Interim)	PPD

Other mayors

Following is a list of other Ponce mayors according to Enciclopedia Puerto Rico but which are not accounted for in the 1913 historical account by Eduardo Neumann Gandía, Verdadera y Auténtica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce: Desde sus Primitivos Tiempos hasta la Época Contemporánea. Source: Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico. Some of the names in this list (such as Tomás de Renovales, Francisco Vassallo and Antonio Toro) are listed in Neumann's book, but not for the additional time periods indicated in Enciclopedia Puerto Rico (and, thus, in the table that follows). The positions held are all generically listed as "Alcalde" as a placeholder; but, at least for some of them, based on the time periods Enciclopedia Puerto Rico states they served, likely held a title other than "Alcalde".

#	Name	In Office	Position Held	Political Party
A	Juan A. Ramírez de Arellano	1692	Alcalde	N/A
B	Tomás de Renovales	1831	Alcalde	N/A
C	Francisco Vassallo	1832	Alcalde	N/A
D	Antonio Toro	1833	Alcalde	N/A
D	Bonifacio Martínez de Baños	1844	Alcalde	N/A
E	Guillermo Oppenheimer	1852	Alcalde	N/A
F	Miguel Luchetti	1852	Alcalde	N/A
G	Pedro de Oña y García	1853	Alcalde	N/A
H	José Pelligero de Lama	1853	Alcalde	N/A
I	Eugenio López-Bustamante	1854	Alcalde	N/A
J	Leonardo de Campos	1866	Alcalde	N/A
K	Pedro Diz-Romero	1866	Alcalde	N/A
L	Francisco Arce y Romero	1867	Alcalde	N/A
M	Nicasio de Navascués y Asia	1868	Alcalde	N/A
N	Jacobo de Araoz y Balmaceda	1868	Alcalde	N/A
O	Recaredo Canejo y Custodio	1869	Alcalde	N/A
P	Manuel Vidal y González	1871	Alcalde	-
Q	Inocencio Vallenilla	1872	Alcalde	-
R	Manuel Vidal y González	1873	Alcalde	-
S	Teodoro Capó	1873	Alcalde	-
T	Juan Germán-Prats	1874	Alcalde	-
U	Rosendo Aquíles-Colón	1880	Alcalde	-
V	Ermelindo Salazar	1880	Alcalde	-
W	Rosendo Aquíles-Colón	1881	Alcalde	-
X	Salvador de Vives	1883	Alcalde	-
Y	Juan Mayoral	1883	Alcalde	-
Z	Ángel Fernández	1893	Alcalde	-
AA	Félix Saurí Vivas	1893	Alcalde	-
AB	Angel Fernández	1897	Alcalde	-
AC	Félix Saurí y Vivas	1897	Alcalde	-
AD	Luis Porrata-Doría	1897	Alcalde	-

Pre-1692 mayors

Historians Eli D. Oquendo Rodriguez (De Criadero a Partido: Ojeada a la historia de los orígenes de Ponce, 1645-1810. 2015. p. 31.) and Francisco Lluch Mora (Orígenes y Fundación de Ponce. 2006, p. 101.) allude to various other Ponce municipal magistrates in the years preceding 1692. Among them are Juan de Quiñones (Lluch Mora), and Juan Quiñones, Pedro Sanchez, Juan Joseph Ortiz, and Andres Martinez de Quiñones (Oquendo Rodriguez).