Results Not Promises
Accomplishments of Mayor Eldridge Hawkins, Jr.’s Administration,
2008-2011, The First Three Years

Since his administration took office in July 2008, Mayor Eldridge Hawkins, Jr. has focused on making Orange safer, improving the quality of life, reducing costs, increasing citizen involvement, and promoting tax-stabilizing redevelopment.

After a three million dollar cut in state aid, Orange averted a major tax increase through belt tightening, employee givebacks, reorganization, and the aggressive pursuit of federal grants. Orange succeeded in maintaining police, fire, and other essential services with less money.

Credit is due the citizens who came forward as volunteers to fill the gap, the union leaders and city employees who generously agreed to work rule changes, the City Council members who voted for a tight budget despite misgivings, and a talented administrative team who reorganized departments to do more with less.

Here is what has been accomplished in three years:

Making Orange Safer

Police Department Transformed from Top to Bottom
■ Created Street Crime Unit to focus on crime “hot spots.”
■ Restored confidence of federal, state, and county law enforcement in Orange Police, resulting in joint operations and large seizures of drugs and guns
■ Special Police Officers to increase police presence on streets and in municipal court
■ Cross-trained detectives to take on additional police duties making police more cost-efficient
■ Promoted first Haitian and Latino police supervisors
■ Interviewed every employee to determine unique skills to best benefit the Police Department
■ Director’s Open Door Policy encourages police employees to discuss concerns and ideas

Community Policing involves citizens in fighting crime
■ Gun Buyback Program takes guns off the streets
■ Operation Park and Walk: Officers park their cars and walk patrols increasing police visibility
■ Police Substation at 95 South Essex Ave
■ Adopt a School, Adopt a Street, and Adopt a Church for officers to voluntarily
participate in community affairs
■ Police Newsletter informs community of police activities and programs
■ Crime Watch meetings encourage citizen involvement
■ Drug Court and community service for minor offenses
■ Liaison with immigrant and ethnic groups to increase understanding and cooperation

New Crime Fighting Technology
■ $450,000 federal grant to upgrade police computers and technology
■ Surveillance cameras to monitor high crime areas
■ Computers in police cars

 

Police Partnership with Orange Public Schools
■ Gang Awareness Training for students and parents
■ School Safety Program to prevent in-school violence and bullying
■ Child Internet Safety Program
■ Police internship program for Orange High School students
■ Junior Police Academy

Better Emergency Management
■ Updated Emergency Operating Plan for dealing with disasters.
■ Federal Emergency Management grant for new Fire Safety Equipment
■ Fire Department now responds to first-aid calls, reducing response time
■ Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) prepares citizens for disaster response
■ Reverse 911 grant for phone system to immediately reach residents in emergencies

Improving Quality of Life and Health Care

Quality of Life Task Force coordinates city departments to eliminate fire, safety, health and sanitation dangers
■ Stepped up inspections: 603 Certificate of Habitability Inspections, 300 court cases, 4,196 property residential inspections and 1,529 violations
■ More quality of life and prostitution arrests since July 1, 2008 than in the previous six years
■ Created and led state-wide battle to protect tenants by keeping annual housing inspections.

Reducing Vacant and Abandoned Properties
■ Demolished over 25 blighted dangerous properties and began replacing them with new housing
■ Comprehensive program to prevent foreclosures and protect tax base during recession
■ Decreased the number of vacant and abandoned properties from over 150 to 82 since July 2008 through comprehensive property management
■ $6,500,000 in federal neighborhood stabilization funds for new construction and rehabilitation of vacant properties
■ Vacant and Abandoned Properties Law now requires property owners to provide security and maintenance contact information for vacant properties
■ Reduced the number of city-owned lots by assigning the properties to developers for
new housing
■ Liens on unmaintained properties requiring City labor and resources to clean them up

Public/Private Partnerships to Improve Health Care
■ Orange Health Alliance brings medical services directly into senior citizen housing
■ Free and Low Cost Prescription Drugs in partnership with Heinz Foundation
■ H1N1-Swine Flu Partnership: Minimized spreading of the disease to Orange. Included clinics, public information campaign, and mobilization of the Board of Education, churches, community groups, healthcare providers, and others
■ Adult Vaccination Program- for the uninsured and underinsured

Making Neighborhoods More Attractive
■ Road resurfacing for Hampton Terrace, Hillyer Street, Ogdon Street, Chapman Street, Berkeley Avenue and others
■ New Streetscape and Decorative Street Lighting on Central Avenue near East Orange border
■ Community Beautification
■ Demolished deteriorated Walter G. Alexander public housing
■ Rapid Response pot hole repair
■ Involved High School and Middle School students in planning redevelopment
■ Urban Clean Up Team Award 2011 from NJ Clean Communities

 

Expanding Recreation and Education
■ Year-round recreational programs of active, passive, and athletic activities geared to all segments of the community.
■ Central Park Pool rehabilitation
■ Summer Jobs program for teens
■ Metcalf Park Improvements
■ New bus for senior transportation
■ Youth Job Readiness Program equips teens with job skills
■ New Recreation Van acquired through a federal grant transports our youth to events and programs
■ Junior M.B.A. program enables Orange High School students to attend business classes at Seton Hall University
■ Mayor’s Mentorship Program involves young people with successful role models
■ Retired Seniors Volunteer Program connects seniors to service opportunities that match skills

Redeveloping Orange to Create Jobs, Increase Tax Base and Stabilize Property Taxes
 
Downtown Revitalization/Strengthening Businesses
■ Main Street economic development campaign focuses on marketing, strengthening existing businesses and recruiting new ones to encourage tax-paying development
■ “Home for the Holidays” promotion bolstered retail shopping and increased Urban Enterprise Zone membership
■ “Discover Orange” Website promotes Orange as a destination for living, shopping, dining, working, playing and locating a business
■ Taste of Orange and Restaurant Week bring new business to Orange restaurants
■ “Transit Village” designation and $583,000 state grant enable planning for new market rate housing, shopping, parking and beautification at Orange Train Station
■ Promoting Orange’s “Valley Arts District” as an artistic, dining and living destination
■ Revitalization Partnership with Seton Hall University, Profeta Foundation and Intersect
Fund provides help to new and struggling local businesses
■ Promoting Orange’s “Little Italy” as a dining, shopping, cultural and tourist destination
■ Peppermint Lounge and Gregory’s bar site redevelopment with retail at street level and market rate apartments above
■ impact Series to ensure that Orange residents and businesses benefit from redevelopment

 
New Housing in Old Neighborhoods
■ New Chestnut Street water pumping facility enables redevelopment in Orange
to move forward. A $300,000 federal grant helps pay for it
■ Grand Central Housing on Central Avenue, recently completed with 70 apartments. features state of the art energy conservation
■ Brass Company living/working lofts for artists
■ Attractive low-rise workforce and senior housing on Parrow St is under construction, replacing the demolished Walter G. Alexander Public Housing Complex
■ Reock Redevelopment Area features new apartments near I-280
■ $6,500,000 Neighborhood Stabilization Grant enables affordable home ownership
■ Live Where You Work initiative has incentives to help local employees find housing in Orange

Delivering More Services at Lower Cost to Taxpayers

Reorganized services to make them more cost-effective
■ First systematic and fair performance evaluation of employees to improve productivity
■ Reorganized Law Department to reduce use of expensive outside legal counsel
■ A full-time Municipal Engineer reduces reliance on outside engineering contractors
■ Banned unnecessary travel and conference attendance by city employees
■ Moved the fire dispatch system to a shared facility at UMDNJ Hospital saving $150,000 per year
■ Reduced cost of property maintenance in the City by 60%
■ Saved taxpayers $2.3 million through staff reductions and reorganization
■ Cross trained employees to take on additional responsibilities
■ Froze nonessential hiring

No Tax Increase for balance of 2011
■ Change to calendar year budget gives Orange a full year of revenue aid over six months
■ Deferred state aid will help keep taxes stable in 2012 and 2013

Strengthened police and fire protection despite $3 million cut in state aid
■ Negotiated employee givebacks to prevent 20% property tax increase
■ Put police supervisors on patrol duty to maintain police strength
■ Rehired 12 firefighters and hired 12 additional using a federal grant and work rule changes
■ Rehired 8 police officers with federal grant and retirements

Thoroughly researched and applied for federal and state grants
■ Community-wide mobilization to ensure citizen participation in the U.S. Census to maximize federal funds received by Orange
■ One of first cities to identify projects eligible for federal stimulus program
■ Federal funding for first time home buyers to assist with down payment and closing costs
■ Secured over $8.5 million in state and federal funding for housing, police and fire services, rehabilitation of vacant properties, roadway improvements, demolition and securing of blighted properties, social services and more.

Led state-wide fights to reduce the cost of local government
■ Labor arbitration must now take into account cost to taxpayers
■ New law reforms public employee pensions
■ Banned unnecessary travel and conference attendance by city employees

Aggressively sought new non-tax revenues and reductions in spending
■ Shared or merged services and purchasing
■ Apartment inspection fees
■ Higher developer fees
■ Billed property owners and placed liens for city clean up of unmaintained private properties
■ Exploring revenue opportunities at Orange Reservoir

Increasing Citizen Involvement

Keeping residents well-informed
■ Expanded local programming on City’s Channel 35 Community Access Television
■ Broadcast City Council Meetings and Public Forums on Channel 35
■ Community Forums keep public better informed and encourage citizen participation
■ Bilingual lobby reception at City Hall to connect citizens with the services they need
■ Replaced computerized phone answering at City Hall with live, friendly human response

Using the Internet to inform citizens and save money
■ Municipal laws now on website to make them easily accessible
■ Orange On-Line, an Email Newsletter with information about local news, public events,
celebrations, issues, recreation, health care and more
■ Redesigned municipal website with video of council meetings and other events, citizen complaint form, budget information, local news and community calendar

Encouraging residents to serve on public boards
■ Call to Service Initiative recruits and trains citizens for volunteer service on city boards
and commissions.  Ordinary citizens not just politicians are now appointed to the Board of
Education, Planning Board, Zoning Board, Library Board, Rent Leveling Board and others