Tency Eason

Eldridge Hawkins at the opening of Obama HQ in Newark, with Irvington Mayor Wayne Smith (background, left).

ORANGE – In the city a little over a year, young Eldridge Hawkins, Jr., ran as the Obama of Orange – a new messenger intent on change in the wake of another public man’s wreckage.

As he observed his older opponent on Election Day, Hawkins brazenly likened the campaign of At-Large Councilman Donald Page to a shopworn Hillary Clinton, and compared his own to that of the hard-charging, inspirational Barack Obama.

But more than five months into his term of office as mayor, Hawkins’s critics object to what they call the 29-year old executive’s early failure to deliver the city convincingly from the era of Mims Hackett, who’s soon to be serving time in a federal pen for corruption.

A proposed $57.2 million budget is up $3.6 million from last year’s, and residents face a significant tax increase. Meanwhile, even new furnishings at City Hall can’t camouflage an entrenched cast of old regime characters. 

MINNEAPOLIS - It was a case of lights, camera, no-show last night at the City of Orange Council meeting.

Upset that Mayor Eldridge Hawkins wants to tape meetings without their approval, four council people refused to attend the regularly scheduled Tuesday night meeting.

"As the mayor, he has to come through the council," said veteran Councilwoman Tency Eason, one of the governing body boycotters, along with Council President Lisa Perkins, Councilman Rayfield Morton and Councilman Elroy Corbitt.

"Enough is enough," said Eason, who lost to Hawkins in Orange’s mayoral election in May.

"He got a letter from the council president telling them to cease and desist," Eason said of Hawkins. "We apologize but we can’t allow the mayor to just go off and tape a council meeting without our approval."

 Superior Court Judge Donald Goldman today dismissed a challenge by Mayor Eldridge Hawkins, Jr.: Politicker photoNorth Ward Councilwoman Tency Eason, who had tried to declare void results of the June 9th Orange Democratic County Committee election in Orange. 

Eason lost the election to then Mayor-elect Eldridge Hawkins, Jr., by a vote of 15 to 14.

In a statement, Mayor Hawkins said he would continue to serve as chair of the county committee as a consequence of Goldman’s decision.

"I am pleased that the court has reaffirmed my election as Orange Democratic Chairman," said the mayor. "Now that the leadership question has been clarified, I invite Ms. Eason to work alongside me and other active Orange Democrats to elect Barack Obama as our next President."

Judge Michelle Hollar-Gregory swears in Mayor Eldridge Hawkins, left, as Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) looks on. 

ORANGE - The son of a former beauty queen and crusading Civil Rights attorney, Eldridge Hawkins, Jr., took the oath of office today as Mayor of the City of Orange in a well-attended and star-studded ceremony in the Middle School auditorium.

"On Day One of our new administration, I don’t say to you, 'Just watch what I can do in City Hall,'" the new mayor challenged the crowd. "Instead, I say, 'Get involved in every way that you can.' Together we will create new ways for you to participate in the building of a better and more prosperous Orange.

"And I say, 'Come with me to City Hall, and together, we’re going to turn our city around!' The future is now!"

Elected two months ago to replace the now convicted Mayor Mims Hackett, Hawkins literally walked up a red carpet rolled out onto the concrete in front of the school, and faced a sea of Orange residents and luminaries that included singing star Dionne Warwick.

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Mayor-elect Eldridge Hawkins, Jr., tonight defeated CouncilwomanEldridge Hawkins, Jr. Tency Eason for Democratic Party  chair of Orange.

Hawkins won 15 to Eason's 14 votes to succeed former Mayor Mims Hackett, who served as chairman in addition to his duties as mayor. Hackett relinquished his mayor's seat last month after pleading guilty to attempted extortion.

Eason, who unsuccessfully opposed Hawkins in the mayor's contest last month, said she means to challenge the outcome of tonight's chairman's race.

ORANGE - Newark Mayor Cory Booker todayNewark Mayor Cory Booker lent his public support to the mayoral candidacy of Eldridge Hawkins, Jr.

"I know what it takes to restore hope and a new direction to a city in crisis," Booker wrote in a message to Orange voters that appeared on Hawkins campaign mailers throughout the Essex County city on the eve of the last weekend before Election Day.

"Eldridge Hawkins has the competence, good ideas and determination to create a bright future for Orange," Booker wrote of the 28-year old West Orange police officer.

ORANGE - On the last full week of the mayor's race here, At LargeAt Large Councilman Donald Page Councilman Donald Page and West Orange Patrolman Eldridge Hawkins lead the pack in overall financial contributions and have opened up on each other in a mail war.

According to the state Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), Hawkins has raised $67,395, including $25,273 in the last period, leaving him with $19,146 in the bank.

Page has raised $41,148, including $11,210 in this period. He has aEldridge Hawkins, Jr. closing balance of $5,416, according to ELEC.

The Hawkins campaign did a lit. drop early this week that charges the councilman with racking up $21,000 of travel expenses over the years he has been in office, while the Page campaign blasted away at Hawkins’s short time as an Orange resident, noting that he voted in his first election here in June of last year.

Nine New Jersey municipalities will elect mayors in next Tuesday’s non-partisan election: Bradley Beach, Cape May City, Delran, Mahwah, Montclair, Orange, Perth Amboy, Spotswood, and Vineland.

Orange Mayor Mims Hackett, who was indicted last October on charges that he accepted a bribe, is not a candidate for re-election. Six candidates are running to replace him: Councilwoman Tency Eason, Councilman Donald Page; Planning Board Chairman Dwight Holmes; attorney Eldridge Hawkins, Jr., the son of a former Assemblyman;

Vineland Mayor Perry Barse faces a strong challenge in his bid for a third term from Robert Romano, a police lieutenant and the son of Barse’s predecessor. Also running for mayor is Nicholas Girone, a former school administrator.

In Montclair, incumbent Edward Remsen is not seeking re-election – the latest in a long string of one-term mayors. Councilwoman Joyce Michaelson, Councilman Ted Maddox and BikeMontclair founder Jerry Fried are the mayoral candidates.