It has been called an old boys' club.

Until the June 8 election of Miss Sonia Grant as common councillor, no woman had been among its nine members for 200 years.

Its debates are held behind closed doors in a tone closer to that of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club than the House of Assembly.

And its conservative nature is revealed by a favourite expression of the current Mayor, the Rt. Wor. Cecil Dismont: "If it's not broken, don't try to fix it.'' So in those senses at least, the description of the Corporation of Hamilton is an accurate one.

But in other senses, it does not fit.

Citizens frequently appear before committees, and written suggestions are welcome at City Hall, Mr. Dismont said.

Classes of schoolchildren are invited to City Hall for tours and can ask the Mayor whatever they like. Occasionally, a student will spend a day with the Mayor, accompany the city engineer to the works yard, the horticulturalist to Fort Hamilton, and the docks manager to the waterfront.

The composition of the Corporation has not changed in two centuries. There is a mayor, three aldermen, and five common councillors. Each has one vote and the mayor has a veto. But according to Corporation secretary Mr. Roger Sherratt, no mayor has ever used that power.

The current members of the corporation, besides Mr. Dismont, are Aldermen Mr.

William Boyle, Mr. William Frith, and Mr. Neville Conyers; and common councillors Mr. Lawson Mapp, Mr. David A. White, Mr. James Jardine, Mr. Thomas Dickinson, and Miss Grant.

Decision-making is by consensus and it is reportedly rare for the Mayor even to cast a deciding vote.

"When we get through, there is no mudslinging at all,'' Mr. Dismont said.

"We back whatever decision is made by the majority.'' With 110 employees, the Corporation seeks to balance an $8-million budget, gleaning income from the docks, property taxes, and parking fees.

Nine four-member committees, each headed by an alderman, report to the full Corporation, which meets every other Tuesday. Committee members are appointed by the Mayor.

There is a committee to deal with streets, the wharves, sanitation, sewage, finance, parks, property, staff, and City Hall.

Garbage and recyclables are collected daily.

The Corporation is about to implement recommendations of a 1992 docks study by consultant Mr. Joseph Barbera, and an application is before the Planning Department for more long-term parking at Bulls Head Hill. Horticulturalist Mr.

George Ogden and his crew are roundly praised for their work on trees and flower beds along streets and in four major city parks.

It has run a small deficit the last four years, but the Corporation has very little debt, Mr. Sherratt said. The only loan outstanding was borrowed to extend the sewage outfall line. The work completed last year doubled the length of the outfall to about one half mile from shore.

Voting was once restricted to male property owners, but has since been extended to the owners and residents of all properties within the City limits, and the owners of businesses. With a population of just over 1,000, Hamilton has an electorate of 560.

Elections, once held annually, are now every three years. The next is in April of 1994. Miss Grant was elected in a by-election resulting from the death of Alderman Mr. Donald Smith.

Like the rest of council, the mayor is paid "not one cent,'' Mr. Dismont said. "And I get a parking ticket, just like you,'' he added.

Corporation members also sit on about a half-dozen Government boards.