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 NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The city's hurricane recovery director, pilloried this week for saying that anyone moving into New Orleans from elsewhere was "going to say, 'Who are these buffoons?'" apologized Friday and said stress and illness clouded his judgment.
"I apologize," Ed Blakely said after a brief news conference. "I think the people deserve better, and I'm going to do better."
Blakely was picked by Mayor Ray Nagin late last year to coordinate the city's recovery. He has been backtracking from several recent comments, beginning with an interview and speech in Australia last week in which he said city population numbers used before Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005 were too high.
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