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 independent Cristian Pozo Parraguez, who was elected in May 2021 and took office on that 28 June.
On 22 December 1891, President Jorge Montt and his Minister of the Interior Manuel Irarrázabal Larraín promulgated the Autonomous Commune Law (Ley de Comuna Autónoma), creating 195 communes, including that of Pichilemu. At the time, the territory of Pichilemu comprised the former subdelegations of Cáhuil, Peñablanca, and Cocauquén. Three years later, on 6 May 1894, Pichileminians 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.
The former Pichilemu City Hall, demolished in 2011–12
Municipal elections, during which mayors are elected, take place every four years; they take place one year before presidential elections (since 2008) in the last Sunday of October. A notable exception was the 2021 municipal election, as it was postponed from October 2020 to April 2021, and then to May 2021, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the 2016-2020 term was extended until 28 June 2021, while the 2020-2024 term was shortened by nearly seven months. Candidates must comply a number of requisites in order to run for mayor of Pichilemu; those include: to have completed secondary education (Enseñanza Media), 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 6 December following the election. The next election for the mayor will be in 2024. 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-two different individuals have served as mayor of the commune of Pichilemu. There have been 43 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 Roberto Córdova Carreño, who served between December 2008 and June 2021, over twelve years. Before Córdova, 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.
^Caro Martínez retired one year before his fourth term expired. The City Council named Francisco Javier Asalgado as acting primer alcalde. Asalgado served the remainder of Caro Martínez's term and was subsequently re-elected once.
^The results of the March 1909 municipal election were controversial, with Francisco Javier Asalgado and Carlos Salas Salas disputing the primer alcalde office. However, an appeals court ruled in favor of Salas in September of that year.
^Asalgado decided to retire in June 1912, just one month after he began his second non-consecutive term as primer alcalde of Pichilemu. His resignation became effective on 22 September 1912. José Santos Becerra, segundo alcalde was named as acting primer alcalde.
^Silva Pizarro was elected for three consecutive terms.
^Barahona Fornés resigned on 24 December 1925 to run for deputy. He was elected deputy for the 1926–30 term representing the 10th Departmental Constituency of Caupolicán, San Vicente, and San Fernando. Following Barahona's resignation, Francisco Adriano Caro, son of the first primer alcaldeJosé María Caro Martínez, was named acting primer alcalde.
^Merino Canales de la Cerda was appointed as the first mayor of the Pichilemu neighborhood council (alcalde de la junta de vecinos) by the government of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo. All mayors until 1935 (government of Arturo Alessandri Palma) were appointed by the president in office.
^A resident of Rancagua, Castro Rojas resigned as mayor because of poor health.
^López Lizana died in office, just four months after he was sworn in as mayor of Pichilemu.
^Following López Lizana's death, Morales Moraga took over his role as mayor of the commune until elections were held later in 1935.
^Llanos Martínez was elected regidor of Pichilemu in November 1935, and was elected mayor of the commune by his peers in December 1935. He held the position for two consecutive terms.
^According to Antonio Saldías, Morales Retamal reached a "gentleman's agreement" and divided his term with Olga Maturana Espinosa, the first and to date, the only woman mayor of Pichilemu. Morales Retamal was re-elected after Maturana Espinosa's departure.
^Saldías Fuentealba's term was interrupted by the Augusto Pinochetmilitary regime, who came to power following a coup d'état on 11 September 1973. The military regime appointed a number of like-minded politicians as mayors of Pichilemu until 1984.
^ Between 1973 and 1987 there were no legalised political parties as they were banned.
^Maturana Maldonado was the last mayor to be appointed by the Pinochet military regime, which remained in power until 1990. His appointment took place on 31 August 1984. In 1989, the Region of O'Higgins Development Council decided that Maturana would stay in office for "good service" reasons, and began a second term on 16 October 1989. Maturana Maldonado resigned in April 1992, and Gustavo Parraguez Galarce, municipal secretary was named acting mayor of Pichilemu. The first municipal election since the return to democracy were held that year.
^ No source has been found to verify a party affiliation.
^Vargas González was temporarily removed from his office in November 1998 after he was found to have been abusing his position as judge of the Local Police Court (Juzgado de Policía Local), by illegally giving a driver's license to a local businessman. Councilor Carlos Leyton Labarca was named acting mayor for the time he was being tried in court. Vargas returned to his office in November 1999, and was subsequently re-elected twice.
^A process against Vargas was started in March 2003. On 28 March 2006, he was found guilty for the crime of bribery by the Crime Court of Pichilemu. Following the sentence, the mayor office was held by Francisco Vidal Arraño, municipal administrator. Vargas was additionally found guilty bringing witnesses who deliberately lied to the court. The sentence against Vargas marked the beginning of a number of controversies which ended with several mayors being prosecuted under charges of corruption. However, Vargas officially resigned as mayor in July 2007, an action which was unanimously approved by the members of the city council.
^In July 2007, Rojas González was elected by the city council as acting mayor, to complete Jorge Vargas González's term. However, Rojas González's tenure as mayor was interrupted by accusations of bribery. He was a fugitive from justice for several days until 12 September 2007, when he was detained by the Carabineros police. In an audience which lasted for seven hours, he was jailed with former mayor Jorge Vargas González in the prison of Santa Cruz.
^Parraguez Galarce, municipal secretary, became the Interim (Subrogant) Mayor, until the city council could elect a new mayor. There were several unsuccessful attempts to choose a mayor, until 23 November 2007, when the councilors elected Marcelo Cabrera Martínez as the successor of Rojas González.
^Marcelo Cabrera Martínez was elected mayor of Pichilemu after a series of unsuccessful attempts by the city council to elect one. Only three days after he took office as mayor, an investigation was started against him for "adulterating receipts". On 26 September 2008, he resigned as mayor for him to be legally able to run as candidate in the 2008 municipal election. However, in October of that year, and some days before the elections took place, he was accused by the Public Prosecutor Jorge Mena, leaving him unable to take office after the elections, which he won.
^González was chosen by the city council to take over Cabrera's vacant, until the "Boletas adulteradas" case ended, or the appeals court of Rancagua allowed Cabrera to return to his post, which eventually occurred.
^Following Cabrera Martínez's resignation as mayor to be legally able to be a candidate for the office, he appointed Luis Calderón Gómez as the interim mayor, on 29 September 2008. Since Cabrera was prohibited from using public offices in October of that year, Calderón held the mayoralty until 12 November 2008, when the city council elected Hernán Garrido Salas to complete Cabrera's term, which would last until 6 December.
^As Marcelo Cabrera was disabled from taking public offices, the city council was forced to elect a new mayor to complete his term. On 12 November 2008, Hernán Garrido Salas was elected mayor of Pichilemu in a city council meeting, to complete Cabrera's term. A group of forty supporters of Cabrera attempted to spoil the voting, but they were not successful and ended up with their leader Jorge Ganora Arratia, a local businessman, arrested. Garrido Salas was, like Cabrera, being prosecuted on charges of bribery, but he could finish the term.
^Parraguez Galarce was sworn in as mayor of Pichilemu on 6 December 2008 in a public ceremony, and handed over his position to Roberto Córdova six days later, making his tenure the shortest for a mayor of the commune.
^The city council elected Roberto Córdova Carreño as the new mayor of the commune in an "extraordinary meeting". Córdova, who was the most voted councilor in the election of October 2008, stayed in the mayor office until Cabrera's return in May 2009.
^On 26 March 2009, Cabrera was sentenced on charges of tax fraud to 61 days of pena remitida and was banned for seven years from occupying the position of councilor. The pena remitida lasted until 17 May, and Cabrera resumed his duties as mayor on the following day, with celebrations of his supporters outside the Pichilemu City Hall. In August of that year, however, the Regional Electoral Court determined, following a reclamation by councilors Viviana Parraguez, Andrea Aranda, Marta Urzúa, Juan Cornejo, and Roberto Córdova, that Cabrera lost his citizenship by being banned from being a councilor, and thus he had to resign his position as mayor. The mayorship of Pichilemu was left vacant until 1 September 2009, when the city council once again elected Roberto Córdova as the new mayor.
^The city council of Pichilemu, in an "extraordinary meeting", elected Roberto Córdova as the new mayor of the commune, for the rest of Cabrera's term. Córdova was popularly elected mayor for the first time in the municipal election of October 2012, obtaining 3,507 votes (49.13%). He was sworn in for his second term on 6 December 2012 in a ceremony held at the Municipal Hall (Pista Municipal); his term is due to expire on 6 December 2016.
^Arraño Acevedo, José (1990) [First published 1980]. "José María Caro Martínez, Primer Alcalde de Pichilemu" [José María Caro Martínez, First Mayor of Pichilemu]. In Saldías, Antonio (ed.). Pichilemu: mis fuentes de información [Pichilemu: my information sources] (in Spanish). Pichilemu, Chile: Editora El Promaucae. pp. 138–140.
^Arraño Acevedo, José (2003). Hombres y Cosas de Pichilemu [People and Stuff from Pichilemu] (in Spanish). Pichilemu, Chile: Editora El Promaucae. p. 28.
^ Riffo, José Luis (10 June 2008). "Los deberes de un alcalde" (in Spanish). Library of the National Congress of Chile. Archived from the original on 10 June 2013.
^ Moreira, Julio César (27 August 1999). "Licencia falsa: pena de 541 días a alcalde de Pichilemu". El Mercurio (in Spanish). Rancagua, Chile. Retrieved 22 March 2013. En un fallo de primera instancia, el titular del Juzgado de Letras de Pichilemu, Mario Madariaga, condenó a 541 días de pena remitida al alcalde de este balneario, Jorge Vargas González (DC), por otorgar en forma ilegal una licencia de conducir." ("In a court ruling, the judge of the Civil Court of Pichilemu, Mario Madariaga, sentenced to 541 days of pena remitida to the mayor of this beach resort, Jorge Vargas González (Christian Democrat), for illegally giving a driver's license.")
^Arraño Acevedo, José (1990) [First published 1980]. "José María Caro Martínez, Primer Alcalde de Pichilemu". In Saldías, Antonio (ed.). Pichilemu: mis fuentes de información (in Spanish). Pichilemu, Chile: Editora El Promaucae. pp. 138–140.
^ "Convencion Conservadora de Colchagua". El Mercurio (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile: El Mercurio SAP. 29 April 1922. p. 15. Como se había anunciado anteayer se reunió en la Secretaría General del Partido, la comisión encargada de iniciar los preparativos para la Convención de Colchagua [...] Concurrieron delegaciones de los departamentos [...] Pichilemu, señores Gustavo Silva, Frco. Silva y Francisco Caro.
^ "Luis Antonio Barahona Fornés". Reseñas Biográficas Parlamentarias (in Spanish). Library of the National Congress of Chile. Archived from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
^Rojas Pavez, Carlos; Larravide Blanco, Miguel; Arraño Acevedo, José Santos (28 March 1944). "Partido Liberal: Electores de Pichilemu". Pichilemu (in Spanish). Pichilemu, Chile. p. 2. Estos hombres son: ARMANDO CAROCA R., ya radicado en Pichilemu más de 20 años, quien en varias ocasiones ha demostrado su afecto a este pueblo con diversas obras de bien úblico que se deben a su iniciativa. Siempre se ha preocupado del buen estado de los caminos por tener vinculaciones comerciales en distintos puntos de la comuna. Las salinas, el comercio y la agricultura, han sido los principales ramos de sus actividades comerciales y por lo tanto será una defensa para todos los que se dediquen a estas actividades. [...] Por patriotismo. Por amor a vuestro pueblo. Por el bien colectivo de la comuna, sin importarles el color político. VOTAD, el domingo 2 de abril, por: Armando Caroca R., Julio Magnolfi L., Carlos Silva P., Juan Polanco V. y Marina López G.
^ Electoral Service of Chile (1947). Elecciones de Regidores 1950 - Nónima de Regidores Electos 1950-1953. Santiago, Chile: Dirección del Registro Electoral. Olga Maturana Espinosa (Conservador)
^"Comuna de Pichilemu". El Cóndor (in Spanish). Santa Cruz, Chile. 30 March 1963. pp. 6, 15. I. Partido Conservador Unido. 16. Basilio Sánchez Beguiristain
^"Otros alcaldes de las comunas del Depto". El Cóndor. Santa Cruz, Chile. 20 May 1967. p. 5. EN PICHILEMU. La Municipalidad de Pichilemu eligió alcalde al Radical, Carlos Rojas; primer regidor el socialista Washington Saldías y segundo regidor el Nacional, Flavio Alvarez.
^"Designa alcalde titular de la comuna de Pichilemu" (in Spanish). Library of the National Congress of Chile. 10 February 1990. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2013. Nómbrase a contar de esta fecha Alcalde titular de la I. Municipalidad de Pichilemu grado 7 de la Escala Unica Municipal, a don René Gabriel Maturana Maldonado. La persona designada por razones de buen servicio deberá asumir sus funciones el día 16 de octubre de 1989." ("Be named from now on Mayor of the Illustrious Municipality of Pichilemu, seventh grade in the unique municipal scale, Mr. René Gabriel Maturana Maldonado. The person, appointed for good service reasons, may assume his functions on 16 October 1989.")
^ "21 alcaldes destituidos y 11 investigados por irregularidades y abusos en su gestión". El Mercurio (in Spanish). 6 April 2008. Retrieved 22 March 2013. El primero en caer fue Jorge Vargas González (DC), sentenciado a 540 días de presidio por presentar testigos falsos en un proceso de cohecho, en el que también fue condenado." ("The first one to be caught was Jorge Vargas González (Christian Democratic), who was sentenced to 540 days jailed for bringing 'fake witnesses' in a bribery case, for which he also was sentenced.") "Víctor Rojas (DC), quien reemplazó a Vargas, se encuentra inhabilitado desde el 2007 y estuvo dos meses en prisión, tras ser formalizado por cohecho, fraude al fisco y asociación ilícita por la concesión de parquímetros en el período del anterior edil Jorge Vargas." ("Víctor Rojas (Christian Democratic), who replaced Vargas, was disabled from occupying public offices from 2007 and was two months jailed, after being formalized for bribery, tax fraud and illegal association for the concession of parking meter permissions during Jorge Vargas' tenure as mayor.")(subscription required)
^Calderón, Félix (15 April 2008). "Fiscal Jorge Mena Ocares y el caso Boletas: "Pruebas y testigos son decisivos para encontrar la verdad del caso"". El Expreso de la Costa (in Spanish). Pichilemu, Chile. p. 3.
^"Nuestras Autoridades" (in Spanish). Pichilemu, Chile: Municipality of Pichilemu. 2008. Archived from the original on 13 January 2006. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
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