Resignation

Bob Watson is resigning as general manager of the New York Yankees after two full seasons that included a World Series championship and frequent run-ins with owner George Steinbrenner, the Associated Press has learned. Watson was to announce his resignation at a news conference today, a source told the AP. Assistant general manager Brian Cashman was to take over once Watson ties up some loose ends with the team. It was not known what Watson would do after his resignation, which also was reported by ESPN.

Deputy Mayor John E. Flaherty Jr., a top aide to Mayor Goode since 1985 and a key member of the transition team working to staff Goode's second-term administration, announced yesterday that he would resign from city government next month. Flaherty's resignation, coupled with Water Commissioner William J. Marrazzo's rejection last week of the mayor's offer of a similar deputy mayor's post, leaves Goode with two vacancies near the top of his new administration. Flaherty, 42, a partner in the Philadelphia law firm of Dechert, Price & Rhoads before he joined the Goode administration in the fall of 1985, said in an interview yesterday that he was resigning to "pursue career opportunities in the private sector.

Robert Saucier, the controversial vice president of the Coatesville Area School Board, stunned fellow board members when he resigned two weeks ago, citing "personal reasons. " Saucier had a friend, Howard Shortlidge, deliver his resignation letter to Board President Patrick Sellers' home before the Jan. 25 board meeting. After that, he seemed to disappear, not returning telephone calls from even his closest friends and associates on the board. In an interview Friday, Saucier offered an explanation.

Ending a turbulent period in Camden County politics, Robert E. Andrews resigned yesterday as freeholder director to pursue a full-time campaign as the Democratic candidate in the First Congressional District. Deputy Director Maria Barnaby Greenwald assumed the top post, capping a political comeback that has seen the former Cherry Hill mayor rise to freeholder director only two years after she was ostracized by fellow Democrats in her own township. Despite Andrews' resignation, the Democrats will maintain their 4-3 edge on the board because his party will name a replacement.

Audubon Borough's building inspector, who resigned after a caustic argument at last month's commissioners meeting, has rescinded his resignation pending a decision on a possible conflict of interest by the state Department of Community Affairs. George Merryfield resigned at the July 26 meeting after Commissioner Thomas Belfatto suggested that there might be a conflict of interest between Merryfield's official duties and his business interests. Merryfield and his wife, Audubon Commissioner Jane Merryfield, are joint owners of the Window Factory in Haddon Heights and Merryfield & Wahl Building Supplies in Turnersville.

Expressing frustration with what he views as Coatesville's impaired moral compass, City Council President Karl Marking has announced his resignation. In an interview Friday, Marking, who was unanimously elected president earlier this year after serving his first year on council as vice president, cited a combination of factors, including possible job relocation and the increasing difficulty of devoting 30 hours a week to city government. But he said a stronger motivation was his growing concern about city leaders' and employees' reluctance to heed rules, a pattern highlighted by City Manager Gary Rawlings' recent decision to live outside the city.

Philadelphia Port Corp. president W. Oliver Leggett Jr., contending he had been criticized because he "did not kowtow to particular individual interests," quit yesterday rather than face a board fight over his future. But he did not leave empty-handed: An agreement under which he will serve as a consultant guarantees he will receive his $90,000-a-year salary for 2 1/2 more years. Although sources said Leggett had been told he would lose a battle among directors, he insisted he could have won re-election and that he quit only to heal the divisions in the port business community that had emerged since he took over as president last December.

The colorful and often controversial Phillies career of longtime scout Hugh Alexander ended yesterday when the club announced his resignation as personnel adviser. Alexander, 69, has been a key part of the Phils organization for 16 years. However, over the last several months his influence had waned amid a series of disputes within the organization. The disagreements culminated several weeks ago in the resignation of Doug Gassaway, a scout who was an Alexander protege. Alexander publicly criticized the front office after Gassaway's resignation.

Camden County Prosecutor Samuel Asbell's sudden resignation left South Jersey churning yesterday. And as the news spread, the story of his desperate, five-day escapade took on the tone of a morality tale for those who knew and worked with him. Police officials across the county swamped the prosecutor's office telephone lines with commiserating messages after Asbell's resignation was made public, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Dennis G....

The head of public safety at the Delaware River Port Authority resigned Tuesday amid growing criticism that he gave his daughter a DRPA E-ZPass to commute to college in Philadelphia. The resignation of Michael Joyce comes as the DRPA falls under increasing scrutiny from Pennsylvania and New Jersey politicians. They are calling for greater financial oversight and reform at the transportation agency, which manages four Delaware River bridges and the PATCO commuter line. Joyce did not return a phone call for comment.