A New Jersey mayor says he's sorry about taking cheap shots at Italian Americans - plus blondes and Staten Islanders - who visit his shore town in the summer. He insists he was just trying to have some fun. "The call of the Guido is bellowing, and frequently slurred, invariably starting with the sound, "Yo," Mayor Ken Pringle of Belmar, N.J. wrote in a local newsletter about the Italian Americans who come to his beach town, just south of Asbury Park. "We think of Guidos as a kind of rare bird: they flock to our town during the shore months and are as welcome as, oh, Canada Geese," he says. The newsletter also made fun of the way Staten Islanders look and act, plus even had a "dumb blonde" joke. Pringle admits now he went too far in the July 4 leaflet in his attempt to highlight the bad behavior of some of the visitors to his Jersey shore town. "It was meant as a humor device, not to insult anyone," he insisted. "If I don't make it funny, no one is going to read it." Rachel Rogers, president of the Belmar Chamber of Commerce, said she understood why some people were offended by the mayor's comments. "I'm blonde," Rogers added.
