Sylvia Haro, named director of community development and the arts just a week ago, sent an e-mail to the Governor's Office on Wednesday pulling out of the job and saying she wants to spend more time with her family.

"My current family commitments will not allow me to serve the citizens of Utah in the capacity that this position requires," Haro said in an interview. "It's going to cost a lot more time than I can give at this point."

Haro was married in October, her 18-year-old daughter is going away to college and her 85-year-old mother is ailing after a heart attack last year. Haro will remain in her job as regional president of Zions Bank's Multi-Cultural Region.

Huntsman had proudly pointed to Haro as the first Latino woman in such a high government office in Utah.

"It's disappointing," Huntsman Chief of Staff Jason Chaffetz said Wednesday. "She's the right person for the job. It's just the wrong time for her."

In her e-mail withdrawing, Haro wrote, "The decision to walk away from a dream opportunity was not easy." She said she was stepping back with "mixed emotions."

Haro's withdrawal appears to be an embarrassing misstep for Huntsman, who prides himself on picking the right people and running his office on an efficient corporate model. Her letter follows the governor's abrupt firing of 33 economic development employees last week.

"The Huntsman administration is not a reckless bunch. They are known for being careful," said Matt Burbank, a University of Utah political scientist. "But this adds to the perception that perhaps this transition wasn't thought through the way it should have been. This obviously is not what they wanted to have happen."

While many of Huntsman's Cabinet members will be confirmed by the Utah Senate next week, Chaffetz said Haro was not on the list because the governor must first get legislative approvavl of structural changes to the economic development department. Huntsman plans to pull economic development functions into the Governor's Office and consolidate community development, minority affairs and arts divisions.

Chaffetz said the governor has replacements for Haro in mind, although he refused to name names.

"We'd like to do this sooner rather than later. But we want to pick the right person," Chaffetz said. "We'll move at the appropriate pace."

The announcement of Haro's withdrawal stung former Department of Community and Economic Development employees fired last week.

Although Huntsman has appointed Dick Bradford acting director of the department, former rural development director Richard Leyba said Huntsman needs to name Haro's replacement soon. Department morale has plummeted since the appointed executives were let go, Leyba said. Haro would have been the one to find replacements for many of them. And floods in southwestern Utah have heightened the need for organization in the state's community development office as workers scramble to arrange emergency grants.

"Oh, wow," Leyba said. "They just let how many of us go? They need to get someone in there right away, someone with a little experience that can hit the road running. This is sad."

Fired Hispanic Affairs Director Tony Yapias said that while Haro might have been able to mend fences in Utah's largest minority community, her absence means the governor must move quickly to fill minority affairs offices. "Community development is such a great link between the state and the Latino community," Yapias said.