Ultimately, it seems, publishing a newspaper and promoting the downtown business district are mutually exclusive operations.
That RiverCenter and Senator Publishing could not come to terms on turning the Downtowner into a newspaper illustrates that point well.
Despite the best intentions of those running RiverCenter and Mark Vasto, the owner of Senator Publishing, they simply could not reach an agreement that served the needs of both.
It is time for RiverCenter to get back on track in fulfilling its mission of boosting the businesses that comprise its membership.
Over the last nine years, the organization that has guided the resurgence of Red Bank’s downtown has done a spectacular job of creating a positive atmosphere not only for its members, but throughout the town as a whole.
RiverCenter may not be able to take all the credit for turning "Dead Bank" into "Hip Town," but it has unquestionably played a huge role in that transformation.
Along the way there have likely been more than a few trails that led nowhere, but River-Center has always managed to find its compass and get back on course.
Let’s hope that’s the case again, because RiverCenter isn’t important only to its members, but to all of Red Bank.