High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Eldridge Hawkins, Jr. (born July 25, 1979) is the Mayor of Orange, New Jersey, a city of 33,000 residents in Essex County, New Jersey with an annual $53 Million operating budget. As Chair of the Management Reform Committee of the N.J. League of Municipalities, Mayor Hawkins is a leader in the campaign to reform the state`s civil service and arbitration laws to give cities more power in collective bargaining with public employee unions. His determination to maintain vital services in the face of increasing costs and declining revenues received national attention as representative of the plight of many U.S. cities and states during the severe 2008-2011 recession. Hawkins serves as President of the New Jersey United States Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) and is also a law enforcement professional and businessman.