Mayor of Pichilemu
The Mayor of Pichilemu is an elected politician who is the head of the executive branch of government of the commune of Pichilemu, Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region, Chile. The mayor presides over the local city council, composed of six members, and serves as the civic representative of the commune. The mayor is popularly elected in a municipal election, by simple majority. The office is held for a four-year term without term limits.
Forty different individuals, including acting mayors, have held the office of mayor since the commune of Pichilemu was created in December 1891. José María Caro Martínez, elected in 1894, was the inaugural mayor of the commune, and served for almost four consecutive terms, interrupted by his resignation in 1905. The current mayor is Socialist Roberto Córdova; he was first elected in an extraordinary city council election to fill an unexpired term on 1 September 2009. Córdova was re-elected to a full term on 28 October 2012, due to end on 6 December 2016.
Some mayors are particularly notable, for example: Conservative José María Caro Martínez, father of José María Caro Rodríguez, the first Chilean Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church; Radical Carlos Rojas Pavez, the founder of Pichilemu, a newspaper which counted with collaborations of local journalist and historian José Arraño Acevedo and municipal worker Miguel Larravide Blanco; and Christian Democrat Jorge Vargas González, a politician who was forced out of office in two different times, under charges of bribery.
Background, organisation, and elections
On 22 December 1891, President Jorge Montt and his Minister of the Interior Manuel Irarrázabal Larraín promulgated the Autonomous Commune Law, creating 195 communes, including that of Pichilemu. At the time, the territory of Pichilemu comprised the former of Cáhuil, Peñablanca, and Cocauquén. Three years later, on 6 May 1894, formed the first local government. José María Caro Martínez was elected the first mayor of the commune on that day.Organisationally, the commune of Pichilemu has a mayor–council form of government. This provides for a commune-wide elected mayor serving in an executive role, as well as a city council serving in a legislative role. The mayor, as the highest authority of the commune of Pichilemu, has the responsibility to direct, manage and supervise the work of the municipality, and legally represents the commune. The mayor is also responsible for administrating the commune's financial resources, and municipal and national goods of public use, presides the local city council, and has the power to delegate his work to other functionaries of the local government, which he may appoint. Additionally, the mayor may give a public account of his gesture to the city council every year, usually in April; an extract of his account may be published to the community. If the mayor dies in office, resigns, or is unable to carry out his/her duties, a councilor may be elected by the city council to replace the former mayor. In the meantime, the municipal secretary may take office as acting mayor. This has happened several times in Pichilemu: following the resignation of René Maturana Maldonado in April 1992, municipal secretary Gustavo Parraguez Galarce took over his office since, at the time, there were no councilors; in November 1998, mayor Jorge Vargas González was convicted of illegally giving a driver's license, and the city council chose councilor Carlos Leyton Labarca until Vargas González resumed his duties in November 1999.
Municipal elections, during which mayors are elected, take place every four years; they take place one year before presidential elections in the last Sunday of October. Candidates must comply a number of requisites in order to run for mayor of Pichilemu; those include: to have completed secondary education, to be a citizen, literate, to have resided in the Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region for at least two years before the election, and to have their military status regularized. The mayor is usually sworn in on the 6 December following the election. The next election for the mayor will be in 2016. Municipal elections originally elected three mayors, called primer, segundo, and tercer alcalde, and a number of regidores. For example, the results of the first elections in Pichilemu, for the term between 1894 and 1897, showed José María Caro Martínez, Pedro Nolasco de Mira, and Francisco Reyes elected as the first primer, segundo, and tercer alcalde of Pichilemu, respectively. The role of the primer alcalde equals that of the current mayor of Pichilemu. However, voting was not popular: only taxpayers and landowners could vote. According to the Decree #5655 of 4 December 1945, regidores were popularly elected, and they had the faculty to vote for the mayor that would rule for the local government three-year term. The 1973 Chilean coup d'état interrupted Washington Saldías Fuentealba's mayoral term, hence terminating possibilities of new elections. The military regime of Augusto Pinochet appointed seven mayors, who held the office in a period of nineteen years. Following the Chilean transition to democracy, the D'Hondt method of proportional representation was used in the municipal elections of 1992, 1996, and 2000: all candidates run in a single list, the most voted candidate becomes the mayor and other five/six become councilors, according to the aforementioned method. For the municipal elections beginning in 2004, candidates for mayor and councilor run in separate lists, and mayors are elected by simple majority of votes.
Mayors
To date, forty-one different individuals have served as mayor of the commune of Pichilemu. There have been 42 mayoralties, excluding those of acting mayors. Francisco Javier Asalgado, Sergio Morales Retamal, and Carlos Echazarreta Iñiguez have served two non-consecutive terms, while Felipe Iturriaga Esquivel served for three. The longest term was that of José María Caro Martínez, who served eleven years until his resignation one year before his fourth term expired. The shortest term was that of Gustavo Parraguez Galarce, an acting mayor who served only six days between 6 December and 12 December 2008, before the city council elected Roberto Córdova Carreño as the successor of Marcelo Cabrera Martínez, who was under trial at the time. Excluding Parraguez Galarce, the shortest term of a mayor of Pichilemu was that of Osvaldo Sotomayor Ilabaca, which lasted a span of nine days, between 25 February and 6 March 1935. Only one mayor has died in office: Serafín López Lizana died after serving five months as mayor of the commune. Olga Maturana Espinosa is the only woman to have served as mayor.Timeline
The timeline shows changes of the head of the executive branch of the municipality of Pichilemu from its creation in May 1894 until today.;1894-1950
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Define $end = 31/12/1951
Define $ini = 01/01/1890
Define $drec = 18/09/1814 # reconquista
Define $dnue = 12/02/1817 # patria nueva
Define $daut = 10/04/1831 # authoritarian republic
Define $dpar = 29/08/1891 # parliamentarian republic
Define $dpre = 11/09/1924 # presidential republic
Define $dpin = 11/09/1973 # pinochet era
Define $dtra = 11/03/1990 # transition
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bar:0002 from:06/05/1894 till:07/05/1905 color:councilel text:"José María Caro Martínez" $sr $fs
bar:0003 from:07/05/1905 till:06/05/1906 color:interimma $sr $fs
bar:0003 from:06/05/1906 till:03/09/1909 text:"Francisco Javier Asalgado" color:councilel $sr $fs
bar:0004 from:02/05/1909 till:03/05/1912 text:"Carlos Salas Salas" color:councilel $sr $fs
bar:0005 from:05/05/1912 till:22/09/1912 text:"Francisco Javier Asalgado" color:councilel $sr $fs
bar:0006 from:22/09/1912 till:02/05/1915 text:"José Santos Becerra" color:councilel $sr $fs
bar:0007 from:04/05/1915 till:04/05/1924 text:"Gustavo Silva Pizarro" color:councilel $sr $fs
bar:0008 from:04/05/1924 till:24/12/1925 text:"Luis Barahona Fornés" color:councilel $sr $fs
bar:0009 from:24/12/1925 till:22/05/1927 text:"Francisco Adriano Caro Rodríguez" color:councilel $sr $fs
bar:0010 from:22/05/1927 till:14/05/1928 text:"Evaristo Merino Canales" color:appointed $sr $fs
bar:0011 from:14/05/1928 till:10/07/1928 text:"Manuel Camilo Silva" color:appointed $sr $fs
bar:0012 from:10/07/1928 till:12/07/1930 text:"José Ramón Araneda" color:appointed $sr $fs
bar:0013 from:12/07/1930 till:24/11/1930 text:"Pastor Castro Rojas" color:appointed $sr $fs
bar:0014 from:24/11/1930 till:16/10/1932 text:"Fernando Maturana Maturana" color:appointed $sr $fs
bar:0015 from:16/10/1932 till:25/02/1935 text:"Felipe Iturriaga Esquivel" color:appointed $sr $fs
bar:0016 from:25/02/1935 till:06/03/1935 text:"Osvaldo Sotomayor Ilabaca" color:appointed $sr $fs
bar:0017 from:06/03/1935 till:25/05/1935 text:"Alberto Morales Moraga" color:appointed $sr $fs
bar:0018 from:25/05/1935 till:01/09/1935 text:"Serafín López Lizana " color:popularly $sr $fs
bar:0019 from:01/09/1935 till:10/12/1935 text:"Alberto Morales Moraga" color:interimma $sr $fs
bar:0020 from:11/12/1935 till:18/05/1938 color:councilel $sr $fs
bar:0020 from:18/05/1938 till:18/05/1941 text:"Humberto Llanos Martínez" color:councilel $sr $fs
bar:0021 from:18/05/1941 till:21/05/1944 text:"Felipe Iturriaga Esquivel" color:councilel $sr $fs
bar:0022 from:21/05/1944 till:18/05/1947 text:"Armando Caroca Rojas" color:councilel $sr $fs
bar:0023 from:18/05/1947 till:01/01/1950 text:"Carlos Echazarreta Larraín" color:councilel $sr $fs
;1950-2000
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Define $ini = 01/01/1950
Define $drec = 18/09/1814 # reconquista
Define $dnue = 12/02/1817 # patria nueva
Define $daut = 10/04/1831 # authoritarian republic
Define $dpar = 29/08/1891 # parliamentarian republic
Define $dpre = 11/09/1924 # presidential republic
Define $dpin = 11/09/1973 # pinochet era
Define $dtra = 11/03/1990 # transition
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id:councilel value:rgb legend: Elected_by_the_city_council
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bar:0004 from:28/05/1951 till:17/05/1953 color:councilel text:"Olga Maturana Espinosa" $sr $fs
bar:0005 from:17/05/1953 till:20/05/1956 color:councilel text:"Sergio Morales Retamal" $sr $fs
bar:0006 from:20/05/1956 till:15/05/1959 color:councilel text:"Felipe Iturriaga Esquivel" $sr $fs
bar:0007 from:19/05/1959 till:19/05/1963 color:councilel text:"Basilio Sánchez Berguiristain" $sr $fs
bar:0008 from:19/05/1963 till:21/05/1967 color:councilel text:"Carlos Echazarreta Iñiguez" $sr $fs
bar:0009 from:21/05/1967 till:21/05/1971 color:councilel text:"Carlos Rojas Pavez" $sr $fs
bar:0010 from:21/05/1971 till:29/09/1973 color:councilel text:"Washington Saldías Fuentealba" $sr $fs
bar:0011 from:29/09/1973 till:10/11/1973 color:appointed text:"Carlos Echazarreta Iñiguez" $sr $fs
bar:0012 from:07/12/1973 till:01/01/1975 color:appointed text:"Mario Urrutia Carrasco" $sr $fs
bar:0013 from:01/01/1975 till:01/01/1979 color:appointed text:"Eduardo Parraguez Galarce" $sr $fs
bar:0014 from:01/01/1979 till:01/01/1981 color:appointed text:"José Lino Vargas Jorquera" $sr $fs
bar:0015 from:01/01/1981 till:01/01/1983 color:appointed text:"Julio Waidele Wolff" $sr $fs
bar:0016 from:01/01/1983 till:30/08/1984 color:appointed text:"Emilio Merino Lacoste" $sr $fs
bar:0017 from:31/08/1984 till:01/04/1992 color:appointed text:"René Maturana Maldonado" $sr $fs
bar:0018 from:01/04/1992 till:06/12/1992 color:interimma text:"Gustavo Parraguez Galarce" $sl $fs
bar:0019 from:06/12/1992 till:06/12/1996 color:popularly text:"Orlando Cornejo Bustamante" $sl $fs
bar:0020 from:06/12/1996 till:09/11/1998 color:popularly text:"Jorge Vargas González" $sl $fs
bar:0021 from:09/11/1998 till:04/11/1999 color:interimma text:"Carlos Leyton Labarca" $sl $fs
bar:0022 from:04/11/1999 till:01/01/2000 color:popularly text:"Jorge Vargas González" $sl $fs
;2000-present
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Define $end = 31/12/2021
Define $ini = 01/01/2000
Define $drec = 18/09/1814 # reconquista
Define $dnue = 12/02/1817 # patria nueva
Define $daut = 10/04/1831 # authoritarian republic
Define $dpar = 29/08/1891 # parliamentarian republic
Define $dpre = 11/09/1924 # presidential republic
Define $dpin = 11/09/1973 # pinochet era
Define $dtra = 11/03/1990 # transition
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bar:0004 from:12/09/2007 till:23/11/2007 color:interimma text:"Gustavo Parraguez Galarce" $sr $fs
bar:0005 from:23/11/2007 till:26/09/2008 color:councilel text:"Marcelo Cabrera Martínez" $sr $fs
bar:0006 from:29/09/2008 till:12/11/2008 color:interimma text:"Luis Calderón Gómez" $sr $fs
bar:0007 from:12/11/2008 till:06/12/2008 color:councilel text:"Hernán Garrido Salas" $sr $fs
bar:0008 from:06/12/2008 till:12/12/2008 color:interimma text:"Gustavo Parraguez Galarce" $sr $fs
bar:0009 from:12/12/2008 till:18/05/2009 color:councilel text:"Roberto Córdova Carreño" $sr $fs
bar:0010 from:18/05/2009 till:19/08/2009 color:popularly text:"Marcelo Cabrera Martínez" $sr $fs
bar:0011 from:01/09/2009 till:06/12/2012 color:councilel $sr $fs
bar:0011 from:06/12/2012 till:06/12/2020 color:popularly text:"Roberto Córdova Carreño" $sr $fs
Other offices held
The following is a list of congressional, and other offices held by mayors, before or after their term.| Mayor | Mayoral term | Other offices held |
| 1894–1905 | Subdelegate of the 13th Subdelegation of San Fernando Department | |
| 1924–25 | Deputy for the 10th Departmental District of Caupolicán, San Vicente, and San Fernando |
Living former mayors
As of April 2015, thirteen former mayors are alive, the oldest being José Lino Vargas Jorquera. The youngest is Luis Calderón Gómez, who served as acting mayor for a short period of time in 2008. The most recent mayor to die is Orlando Cornejo Bustamante, on 20 April 2015.| Mayor | Mayoral term | Date of birth |
| 1963–67 1973 | ||
| 1975–79 | ||
| 1979–81 | ||
| 1983–84 | ||
| 1992 2007 2008 | ||
| 1996–98 1999–2007 | ||
| 1998–99 | ||
| 2007 | ||
| 2007–08 2009 | ||
| 2008 | ||
| 2008 | ||
| 2008 |