This is a list of mayors of Ponce, Puerto Rico's southern economic center, the island's second largestLong 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. and second most important city.Port of the Americas. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Port of the Americas Authority. Retrieved 8 March 2010.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.
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.Guillermo Baralt. Buena Vista: Life and Work in a Puerto Rican Hacienda. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. 1999. p. 131. 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.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. 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.Ponce se prepara para celebrar su día mundial. Darisabel Texidor Guadalupe. Primera Hora. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2013. 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 current mayor is Marlese Sifre Rodríguez, from the Partido Popular Democratico, in office since 2 November 2023Marlese Sifre es la alcaldesa interina de Ponce. Tele-Once. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2 November 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2024. Archived..
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 Source: Eduardo Neumann Gandía,"Verdadera y Auténtica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce." 1913. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. pp. 275-280. Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico,Municipio de Ponce: Alcaldes en su Historia. Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico. Fundación Puertorriqueña para las Humanidades. 2018. Accessed 5 May 2019. and Neysa Rodríguez Deynes.Neysa Rodríguez Deynes.Brevario sobre la Historia de Ponce. Gobierno Municipal Autónomo de Ponce. Oficina de Cultura y Turismo. 2002. p. 166. # Name In office Position held Political party 1 Pedro Sánchez de Mathos 1692Eduardo Neumann Gandía. Verdadera Y Auténtica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. 1913. pp. 43, 275. – 1701Eduardo Neumann Gandía. Verdadera Y Auténtica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. 1913. pp. 43, 275. Teniente a guerraNeysa Rodríguez Deynes.Brevario sobre la Historia de Ponce. Gobierno Municipal Autónomo de Ponce. Oficina de Cultura y Turismo. 2002. p. 166. N/A 2 Dámaso de Toro 1701Eduardo Neumann Gandía. Verdadera Y Auténtica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. 1913. pp. 43, 275. – 1706Eduardo Neumann Gandía. Verdadera Y Auténtica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. 1913. pp. 43, 275. Teniente a guerraNeysa Rodríguez Deynes.Brevario sobre la Historia de Ponce. Gobierno Municipal Autónomo de Ponce. Oficina de Cultura y Turismo. 2002. p. 166. N/A 3 Aurelio Juan Ramírez de Arellano 1706Eduardo Neumann Gandía. Verdadera Y Auténtica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. 1913. pp. 43, 275. – 1710Eduardo Neumann Gandía. Verdadera Y Auténtica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. 1913. pp. 43, 275. Teniente a guerraNeysa Rodríguez Deynes.Brevario sobre la Historia de Ponce. Gobierno Municipal Autónomo de Ponce. Oficina de Cultura y Turismo. 2002. p. 166. N/A 4 Joseph de Toro 1710Eduardo Neumann Gandía. Verdadera Y Auténtica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. 1913. pp. 43, 275. – ? Teniente a guerraNeysa Rodríguez Deynes.Brevario sobre la Historia de Ponce. Gobierno Municipal Autónomo de Ponce. Oficina de Cultura y Turismo. 2002. p. 166. N/A 5 Francisco Ortíz de la Renta 1766 Teniente a guerraNeysa Rodríguez Deynes.Brevario sobre la Historia de Ponce. Gobierno Municipal Autónomo de Ponce. Oficina de Cultura y Turismo. 2002. p. 166. N/A
19th century Sources: Eduardo Neumann Gandía,Verdadera y Auténtica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce. 1913. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. pp. 275-280. Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico,Municipio de Ponce: Alcaldes en su Historia. Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico. Fundación Puertorriqueña para las Humanidades. 2018. Accessed 5 May 2019. and Neysa Rodríguez Deynes.Neysa Rodríguez Deynes.Brevario sobre la Historia de Ponce. Gobierno Municipal Autónomo de Ponce. Oficina de Cultura y Turismo. 2002. p. 166.