When the embattled Hector V. Barreto announced his resignation last month as administrator of the Small Business Administration, he did it in a press release.

How perfect.

During his tenure at SBA, and particularly in the months since Katrina, Barreto's public relations department at the agency kicked into high gear, flooding media e-mail boxes and fax machines with pat after pat on SBA's back.

The self-congratulatory flurry strengthened recently - the Sun Herald business department got about 30 press releases in March and April - and now, in 20-20 hindsight, that must have been the beginning of the end of Barreto's government job.

He was already under fire in Congress and in other quarters for SBA's slow response to last year's hurricanes. (Sound familiar?)

Back in February, Congresswoman Nydia M. Velazquez, ranking Democrat on the House Small Business Committee, railed, "A few weeks ago, SBA was claiming that everything was fine - when in reality the agency was on the brink of having to shut down its disaster loan program and has now asked to be bailed out. These types of erroneous miscalculations are just one more instance of mismanagement at the agency - all that come at the expense of innocent disaster victims and taxpayers."

So when Barreto said he was stepping down, his critics really got worked up.

Lloyd Chapman, president of the American Small Business League, sent out his own press release the day Barreto announced he would become national chairman of The Latino Coalition, a Hispanic advocacy organization.

"Barreto's resignation comes as no surprise - I've been waiting for this to happen. Inc. Magazine recently dubbed him 'The Big Disappointment,' and I couldn't agree more. It was obvious to me by his demeanor in congressional hearings and his flippant disregard for the truth that he did not intend to stay for long."

Chapman appears to be unhappy all around with the SBA situation. He also called Barreto's "unknown" replacement, Steven Preston, "another unqualified SBA administrator" who will continue the Bush administration's task of dismantling the SBA.

Right now it's not clear if Barreto's legacy will sink to the depths of "Brownie" status, but time will tell.

And keep checking your mailbox for that long-awaited SBA loan.