Meaning what he says, saying what he means ... ?

New Orleans City Council President Oliver Thomas, who a couple of weeks ago said the city didn't want public housing residents who didn't want to work to return, apologized yesterday for his language but said he still believes in what he said.

Speaking to about 150 evacuees in Houston, Thomas apologized for saying last month that the devastated city doesn't need "soap opera watchers" in public housing who are unwilling to find jobs and help rebuild the city after Hurricane Katrina.

But he reiterated his view that to avoid simply re-creating housing complexes that had been centers of poverty and crime, New Orleans must attract a motivated working class.

"We have to build a working-class community that's able to take care of themselves," Thomas said. "We've had three generations of poverty where people never expected to get better. If we have an opportunity to make it right and make it better, we should."

Thomas defended his position last week during a New Orleans City Council meeting, at which he said "poverty pimps" had twisted his words — whatever that means. He was in Houston speaking to the Katrina Survivors Association, which invited him to give evacuees an update on conditions in New Orleans and apologize for his remarks.

But Thomas nearly got in trouble again when he told the group that Houston "doesn't want you here" anymore. Naturally, what he said wasn't what he meant: Thomas later explained that he was actually saying Houston isn't providing the same level of help to evacuees now than it did six months ago. In spite of that case of foot-in-mouth, Thomas's point is taken: Newsweek has an article in this week's issue about Houston's strained social services. As the article says, "The city that so generously opened its heart could now use a little generosity itself."