Eldridge Hawkins Jr.

ORANGE – At-large Councilman Donald Page recently received an e-mail about an upcoming mayoral candidates’ forum from one of the event’s organizers letting his campaign know where and when the event was being held.

The problem is that the woman who sent the message is also working for one of his opponents in the mayor’s race.

Now Page wants to meet with former Councilman Ben Jones this weekend to hammer out the details of the forum sponsored by Jones' group, Citizens for Responsible Government (CRG).

Former Assemblyman Eldridge Hawkins, Orange Mayoral candidate Eldridge Hawkins Jr., and Linda Cofer Hawkins on Saturday

Promising good government and economic progress to a city plagued by bloated municipal budgets, gangs, a ghost town economy and charges of political corruption, Eldridge Hawkins Jr., entered the race for mayor of Orange at the Elk’s Lodge on Saturday with the strength of his family name behind him.

Son of his namesake, the former state Assemblyman and respected civil rights attorney who was in attendance, Hawkins reminded a small crowd of supporters that Orange was once a thriving industrial city made up of 34 hat-making factories, including the F. Berg Hat Manufacturing Company Complex.

"Today, these same buildings are nothing more than rundown relics of what once was," said the 28-year old West Orange patrolman and realtor associate. "Such images can no longer exist in our town. For too long we have sat by and watched our city deteriorate and its progress be paralyzed by politicians and citizens that were unable to put their feelings, personal agendas and differences aside for the good of the city."