José Ortíz de la Renta

José Ortiz de la Renta (c. 1765 – c. 1850) was Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico, from 1812 to 1814, 1815 to 1816, 1820 to 1821, 1823 to 1826, 1837 to 1838, 1842 to 1843, 1843 to 1844, and in 1846. He has the distinction of having held the office of mayor of Ponce the most — eight times. He was an hacendado.

Background Like José Casimiro Ortíz de la Renta and Francisco Ortíz de la Renta, José Ortiz de la Renta was a descendant of the founders of San Germán, on the hills of Santa Marta, next to Río Guanajibo, in 1573. He was an hacienda owner and in 1827 owned 16 slaves.

First mayoral term (1812) As Ponce has had a municipal council since 1812, Mayor Ortiz de la Renta was the first mayor of Ponce with a legislative council. José Ortiz de la Renta was the first alcalde constitutional elected by popular vote, in 1812, as a result of the Constitución de Cádiz (Cádiz Constitution). During his first mayoral term, Ortiz de la Renta was mayor from 1 January 1812 to 31 December 1813. His deputy mayor was Joaquin Mercado, and the regidores in the municipal council were: Juan Gonzalez, Pedro Vazquez, Santiago Suarez, Juan Ramon Quintana, Miguel Ortiz de Mathos, Antonio Ortiz de la Renta, Jose Antonio Collazo, and Clemente del Toro.

Second mayoral term (1815) During his second mayoral term, Ortiz de la Renta was mayor from 1 January 1815 to 2 January 1816. He led the municipality in the capacity of Teniente a guerra.

Third mayoral term (1820) During his third mayoral term, Ortiz de la Renta performed again as an alcalde constitucional.

In 1820, the first known division of the Ponce territory into barrios took place. During his third mayoral term, Ortiz de la Renta was mayor from the moment José de Toro left the mayoral administration sometime after 3 June 1820 until 31 December 1820.

Ortiz de la Renta's third mayoral term coincided with Ponce's second ayuntamiento. The ayuntamiento was composed of Ortiz de la Renta as mayor (in the role of Alcalde constitucional); Gregorio Medina (Alcalde segundo); Regidores were: Fernando Gandia, Antonio Algarra, Juan Pablo Aponte, José Pica, Domingo Clavell, Antonio González, Antonio Vazquez Zayas, Juan José Quintana; and Síndicos Procuradores were: Benito Paz Falcón and Esteban Dros.

Fourth mayoral term (1823) During his forth mayoral term, Ortiz de la Renta performed as alcalde propietario. However, little is known about this period as there are no Acts in the Municipality for the period 1824 to 1834, affecting the period while he was mayor as well.

On 10 March 1823, the barrios of Cayabo and Caonillas, which on that date were still part of the municipality of Ponce, ceased to be part of Ponce and became part of Juana Diaz, and later, in 1917, formed their own municipality, Villalba.

In July 1825, there is a revolt in Ponce by slaves due to the large number of slaves that were up for sale, but the revolt failed. During his fourth mayoral term, Ortiz de la Renta was mayor from 1 January 1823 to 31 December 1825.

Honors Ortiz de la Renta is honored at Ponce's Park of Illustrious Ponce Citizens. Of over 100 Ponce mayors, only six are honored there. In Ponce there is a street in Urbanizacion Las Delicias of Barrio Magueyes named after him.