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Sila María Calderón Serra (born September 23, 1942) was the seventh Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from 2001 to 2005. She is the only woman ever elected to that office. Prior to being Governor, Calderón held various positions in the Government of Puerto Rico, including Secretary of State and Chief of Staff. She was also Mayor of San Juan, the Capital of Puerto Rico.

Education

Sila María grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico and attended high school at the Sacred Heart Academy in Santurce. In 1960 she attended Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York. In 1964 she graduated with a degree in Political Science. In 1970, her graduate studies led her to the School of Public Administration at the University of Puerto Rico where she graduated with a masters in Public Administration in 1972.

Political career

Her political career began in 1973 when she was named executive assistant to the Labor Secretary and Special Assistant to then Governor, Rafael Hernández Colón. Calderón became the first woman Chief of Staff in Puerto Rico in 1985. Later, she served as Secretary of State.

She took a hiatus from government in 1992 and served on the board of corporations such as Banco Popular and non-profit organizations such as The Sister Isolina Ferré Foundation.

Mayor of San Juan

She returned to politics and was elected Mayor of the city of San Juan in 1996. As mayor, she sponsored various urban projects to revitalize Rio Piedras, Santurce, Condado and other deteriorated sections of the city. She initiated a "Special Communities Program" to assist poor communities and foster community volunteering.

In 2000 she set her sights for the governor's seat. She led the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) during a heated and close campaign for Governor against Carlos Pesquera (PNP) and Ruben Berrios (PIP). With her victory, she became the first elected female governor in the history of Puerto Rico.

Governor

Calderón's administration objectives dealt with issues such as Vieques (see Navy-Vieques protests), the fight against drugs and the extension to the rest of the island of the "Special Communities Programs". During her campaign for the governorship, she promised to "get the Navy out of Vieques in 6 months", but the Navy left as agreed in the historic Clinton-Rosselló agreement, on May 1, 2003.

Although a firm believer in the current political status of the island, an attempt to discuss mechanisms to resolve the status dispute that faces Puerto Rico among the three major political parties was unsuccessful.

Her administration was characterized by frequent changes of the members of her cabinet; including four different Police Superintendents. During her term, crime became a major issue.

Calderón announced in the summer of 2003 that she would not seek re-election in the 2004 Puerto Rican elections. After divorcing long-time husband Adolfo Krans, she married Ramón Cantero-Frau, a member of her cabinet on September 13, 2003. It was only the second time a wedding ceremony had been carried at La Fortaleza, official residence of the Governor of Puerto Rico, since Roberto Sánchez-Vilella did so in 1967. The ceremony became a media event that was transmitted live on Puerto Rican television.

On May 26, 2004, Calderón had to deal with a man who entered La Fortaleza, governor's mansion, with a knife and took a receptionist hostage, demanding to speak directly with Calderón. After Calderón negotiated with the hostage taker, the man dropped the knife and surrendered to police.

Calderón's daughter, Sila Mari Gonzalez along with her sister, María Elena González served as "First Ladies" of the Commonwealth. Sila Mari Gonzalez was elected to the Senate of Puerto Rico in November 2004 as her mother completed her term of office as Governor and serves as Minority Whip in the Puerto Rico Senate.

Retirement and Legacy

After her term ended, Calderón retired completely from public life. A few months after leaving office, Calderón divorced from her third husband, Ramón Cantero Frau,on May 27, 2005. *. Her administration was characterized by an almost single minded persuit of uncovering corruption committed during the previous administration (which was led by the opposing party), resulting in many indictments but relitavely few convictions. The fact that all the indictments were of individuals with ties to the administration led by the opposing party and virtual lack of indictments of individuals with ties to the PPD (Calderon's party) has led many to question if they were politically motivated.

Few major infrastructure projects were carried out during the administration, and the constant personnel changes in her Cabinet were criticized by the Puerto Rican media. The fiscal situation that current Governor Acevedo Vila (PPD) faces has been blamed on her administration by the opposing PNP party, while her party blame past administrations before Calderon's tenure.

One of the Calderon administration's claims was the fact that they put the island's economy on the right track with impressive "gains" in terms of streamlining government services and balancing the budget. Ironically, once she left office, it was revealed by following administration (same party) that the government finances were in fact not balanced. The Calderon administration took to the practice (as have previous administrations from both the PNP and PPD parties)of balancing the budget via loans. This led to a governmetal debt of over 2 Billion Dollars, the largest by far of any state or territory of the US in comparison to its population and economy. The practice of balancing budgets via loans, a large, inefficient and bloated bourocracy, and politicians thinking of personal gain instead of the public wellbeing, were some of the major reasons for the subsequent credit degradation of the commonwealth's credit in 2006.

Other accomplishments

  • 1958, 1975 and 1997 - The Chamber of Commerce of Puerto Rico awarded her for outstanding public service.
  • 1986 - The Association of Puerto Rican Products designated her as one of the outstanding women of the year.
  • 1987 - Inducted into the Order of Isabel the Catholic ("Orden Isabel la Católica") by the Spanish Government
  • 1988 - The American Association of Public Works awarded her as "Leader of the Year" in the field of Public Works
  • 1989 - Manhattanville College awarded her as Distinguished Alumni.
  • 1997 - Manhattanville College awarded her a Honoris Causa Doctorate in Arts and Humanities.

See also

External links

References

  1. La Fortaleza. Nuestra Gobernadora. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Government of Puerto Rico. 2001.

1942 births | Living people | Governors of Puerto Rico | Members of the Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico

Sila Calderón

 

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