in the newly created Corporationpost.

The former Bermuda Biological Station for Research head of operations, who planned "to really go to town'' when she was chosen for the job last November out of 30 applicants, said last week she had decided: "It's not the job for me.'' Mayor the Wor. Henry Hayward confirmed Ms Emmott tendered her resignation on Thursday after weeks of discussion with Corporation members.

The position would not be re-advertised, he said.

Ms Emmott's sudden resignation leaves the Corporation in a difficult staffing situation.

Corporation Secretary of 33 years, Mrs. Lilly Oatley plans to retire at the end of the year, Mr. Hayward revealed.

And Ms Emmott is due to officially leave the job at the end of the month. Ms Emmott, explaining why she quit, said: "It was too big of a change for me coming from the Bio Station into a committee environment.

"It was not an environment I felt happy in. I found it a little frustrating.'' Ms Emmott said she would like to go back to management work in the sciences.

But she would probably not be going back to the Bio Station.

She said she had not known about the Corporation red tape when she applied for the job.

Mr. Hayward said she had worked hard in the post and was leaving in a positive light.

Mr. Hayward said the Corporation decided to hire two new secretaries to replace Ms Emmott and Mrs. Oatley.

Mrs. Oatley had planned to retire earlier, he said, but agreed to stay on to assist the new Town Manager.

However, now that Ms Emmott was leaving, she was retiring.

The Secretary to the Corporation would have an expanded role and an executive secretary would be hired to help run the office.

"The position was not what (Ms Emmott) expected it to be,'' Mr. Hayward said.

"I think she found it entailed more committee work and a different environment from what she'd been in in the past.'' He did not feel the Corporation had made a mistake in hiring Ms Emmott. "She accomplished a lot and I'm sorry to see her go,'' he said.

Ms Emmott had restructured the Corporation offices and oversaw the smooth arrival of the new St. George's cruise ship.

Mr. Hayward said her resignation wouldn't cause any major setbacks in the running of the town, though, "We won't be able to get on with a lot of projects as fast as we'd like to.

Landscaping of the new cruise terminal at Ordnance Island and a major repaving and underground cable project on Queen Street were the next big projects the Town had to tackle.

Mr. Hayward said he could not see the Corporation hiring another Town Manager, although the Corporation Secretary's title could be changed to Town Manager sometime in the future.

"It'll be a whole new ball game,'' he said.

The $50,000 grant Government provided the Corporation for the new post would be used towards paying the two secretaries, he said.

When she was hired for the post last year, Ms Emmott said she was looking for a change.

She had worked at the Bio Station for 30 years, assuming a variety of responsibilities, including administration, fundraising, public relations, maintenance, reservations and decorating.

Mr. Hayward said at the time the Corporation felt the wide variety of work she had done made her well suited for the job.

Her tasks had included coming up with new revenue raising ideas and ways of promoting the town.