Here is Eric's summary of the video:
In November 1993, the Choice for Change reform majority on the Hoboken Board of Education voted to hire an individual from outside the district to become the new principal of the Demarest Middle School (I only remember that his last name was Diaz). Back then, most of the kids at Demarest were Latino and many had parents who spoke little or no English. Conferences between parents and the principal often had to be held with the school janitor translating (he was supposedly the only employee that could translate). Mr. Diaz came with great qualifications and was highly recommended as someone who had turned problem schools around. He was also Spanish-speaking, an added bonus given the school population.
Many locals took offense, however, at his hiring. Larry Sciancalepore was the favorite in-district candidate of the Hoboken born-and-raised crew led by the recently-elected mayor, Anthony Russo. Seconds after the Board voted to hire Diaz (00:26), Sciancalepore’s son let it all hang out, espousing the sentiment that was quite common then - and still is, to some extent - among Hoboken’s born-and-raised community.
“This is OUR town! Get out of our goddamn town!”
Diaz was hired, but Anthony Russo would gain control of the Board of Ed the following April and Diaz was let go. Sciancalepore took the position, but had difficulty performing and eventually stepped down after suffering a heart attack.
As an extra perk, I left in a few seconds of me and Perry Belfiore competing for Best/Worst 80s hairdo.
- Eric Kurta
Eric Kurta is a former Hoboken for People for Open Government (POG) President and citizen activist/archivist/watchdog. He also had a nice full hair frizz on display for this video. There must have been some serious humidity in the air that day since I am pretty sure Eric didn't use Jheri Curl back then.
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