By Bill Wichert | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
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on December 15, 2014

Eldridge Hawkins Jr., the former mayor of Orange, has lost an appeal in his long-running legal battle with West Orange officials over his tenure as a township cop.

WEST ORANGE — A state appeals court has rejected discrimination claims by former Orange Mayor Eldridge Hawkins Jr. that he was unfairly paid less than two fellow West Orange police officers.

Hawkins, who lost a bid last month to become the mayor of West Orange, had asserted Officers William K. Sayers and Brad Squires received special treatment, because they are white and of Irish descent.

But in a decision issued on Thursday, the appellate panel upheld a lower court’s ruling to dismiss those claims after finding Hawkins had failed to show pay increases for the two officers were the result of unlawful discrimination.

By Bill Wichert | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
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on November 04, 2014

West Orange Mayor Robert Parisi won a second term against three challengers, including former Orange Mayor Eldridge Hawkins Jr.

WEST ORANGE — For Eldridge Hawkins Jr., today’s West Orange mayoral election did not turn out to be the homecoming he was looking for.

The former mayor of Orange, Hawkins fell short in his bid to become the next mayor of his hometown, losing to incumbent Robert Parisi among four candidates running in the township’s non-partisan election.

Parisi won a second term with 6,652 votes, easily beating the 1,728 votes cast for Hawkins. Two other mayoral candidates, Rodolfo Rodriguez and Joe Krakoviak, received 704 and 2,761 votes, respectively.

By Owen Petrie | Essex County Politics
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The West Orange contest for mayor is turning out to be scorching hot. Turnout is much higher than expected and the race for mayor, according to many residents pouring into the polls seems to be between Eldridge Hawkins and Robert Parisi.

By Owen Petrie | Essex County Politics
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October 30, 2014

Someone's got to keep an eye on these guys. On October 30, 2014, the West Orange Chronicle presented its readers with what may be the most milquetoast political endorsement in the history of New Jersey governance, the way the newspaper backed mayor Roberts Parisi's reelection bid.

The paper could cite no accomplishment or tout any achievement attributable to mayor Parisi.

The Editorial Board noted that, "West Orange has certainly had some difficulties in Parisi's first term." The Chronicle absolves the mayor of any culpability in the "difficulties," and instead blames the township's municipal pains on "the times" in which we live, not the politicians we have elected to guide us through these trepidatious waters. Of course, what is not mentioned is how neighboring towns such as Montclair, Orange, Millburn and South Orange are rebounding quite nicely from the economic downturn of the past decade. I guess we're to surmise that those municipalities are just luckier than West Orange.

By Owen Petrie | Essex County Politics
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on October 29, 2014

Photos taken at Mayoral debate. From left: Mayoral Robert D. Parisi, Rodolfo Rodriguez, Joe Krakoviak and Eldridge Hawkins, Jr. 

WEST ORANGE—West Orange mayoral aspirant, Eldridge Hawkins, showed his experience and drew on several clear distinctions between he and incumbent mayor, Robert Parisi, and Republican challengers, councilman Joe Krakoviak, and businessman Rodolfo Rodriguez.
 
The debate, sponsored by Rutgers University and “All Politics Are Local,” radio show, was held at Elmwood West United Presbyterian Church in West Orange on Oct. 27.
 
The claim against mayor Parisi in the previous debates has been that, while affable and in some cases, charismatic, he has been on the defensive, rarely touting whatever his administration’s accomplishments may be, but rather extolling his ability to maintain the status quo. That paradigm did not shift on Monday at the United Presbyterian Church.

By Dan Ivers | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
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on October 26, 2014

Former Orange mayor Eldridge Hawkins, shown here in a file photo.

WEST ORANGE — Four candidates vying to become the township’s next mayor will face off in a debate tomorrow night.

Current Mayor Robert Parisi will be joined by challengers Joe Krakoviak, Eldridge Hawkins and Rodolpho Rodriguez in the debate, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Elmwood West United Presbyterian Church on Old Indian Road.

By Owen Petrie
Essex County Politics

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The B’Nai Shalom synagogue in West Orange Monday night was the site of a rather congenial mayoral forum relative to how volatile such events can get. Although the participants, Eldridge Hawkins, Joe Krakoviak, Rodolpho Rodriguez and mayor, Robert Parisi, were polite and measured in their tones, there was some nuanced barbs leveled by the candidates. The men took turns answering the same questions from the moderator, addressing the estimated 175 to 200 people in attendance. The challengers all wore jackets and ties, although Rodriguez and Hawkins were the only ones in suits. The mayor was more casual in a sports coat and polo shirt.

Cynthia Cumming
Tuesday, October 21, 2014 • 2:48am

L-R, Rodolfo Rodriguez, Eldridge Hawkins, Jr., Joe Krakoviak, Robert Parisi. 
Credits: Cynthia Cumming

WEST ORANGE, NJ - (Editor’s Note: This is the first in a two-part article of the West Orange Mayoral Forum held on Oct. 20. at Temple B'Nai Shalom on Pleasant Valley Way.)

The suburban Mayor with a small-town sensibility. The urban mayor with big plans. The self-confessed “Watchdog,” and the local businessman. During the second Mayoral forum held at Temple B’Nai Shalom on Oct. 20, the four West Orange mayoral candidates: incumbent Robert Parisi, township councilman Joe Krakoviak, Eldridge Hawkins, Jr., and Rodolfo Rodriguez, may have all answered the same questions, but their responses clearly began to show the lines of delineation in attitude, experience, and perspective.

By Mark Bonamo | 10/20/14

PolitickerNJ

WEST ORANGE – In the midst of a relatively civil mayoral candidates’ forum at the B’Nai Shalom synagogue in West Orange on Monday night, one flashpoint between two candidates drew out some of the tension inherent in the race.

“I’d like to talk about the unnecessary outsourcing of professional services,” said Eldridge Hawkins, a former West Orange police officer and mayor of neighboring Orange from 2008 to 2012, who is seeking a political comeback. “There are township attorneys getting what many would consider full-time salaries and who are still able to bill the township $80 an hour, which adds up to hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

“We were just accused of a crime. This administration does not support pension padding,” countered incumbent Mayor Robert Parisi before a crowd of more than 150 people. “I disagree with having professional service sin house. It’s much more economical to you the taxpayers to have professional services be sub-contracted.”

Friday, 17 October 2014 16:08 Local Talk News Editor

On Monday, October 13, 2014, West Orange High School hosted a debate with the city's four mayoral candidates. The debate started right on time as declared at 7:00 pm. Incumbent Mayor Robert Parisi, former Orange Mayor Eldridge Hawkins, Jr., West Orange Councilman Joe Krakoviak, and Rodolfo Rodriguez all answered questions on how they would lead the town.

Mayor Parisi said that since he took office, he cut down the budget, and cut 52 employees while keeping the same service the people deserve.

Joe Krakoviak said that since he has been on the council, the majority of the resolutions pass with 4 to 1 against him, except if it is otherwise a good resolution. He talked about wasteful spending, especially about the Edison Factory site and police substation, which has an expense of over $400,000 that opened next to the substation's lease site of $3,600 per year, and he repeated not month but per year.