If X= $8.25M, Then Y=…

Before we get started, late-breaking news. Haven’t received an official recap from the California Highway Patrol, but Mono County Sheriff Ingrid Braun confirmed one man is dead following a traffic accident which occurred at about 12:30 p.m. today in Lee Vining. 

A truck apparently jumped the curb at the Mono Cone, and plowed into a patron or patrons. A 70-year old man, not from the area, was killed. The driver, whose name has not been released, is from Mammoth.

Press release just came in. Here it is:

On 10/03/2019, at approximately 1150 hours, a 1999 Ford F-250 extra cab pickup was traveling in the northbound number two lane of US 395, just south of First Street,  in the town of Lee Vining.  

For reasons unknown, the driver allowed the Ford to veer to the right.  The Ford traveled in a northeasterly direction across a raised concrete curb and sidewalk and into the parking lot/outdoor dining area of the Mono Cone restaurant. 

The Ford collided into four patrons seated at an outdoor table and several patrons standing at the ordering/pick-up windows. Four patrons sustained minor injuries and declined medical aid on scene. One patron sustained major injuries and was transported to Mammoth Hospital by ambulance. One patron was pinned underneath the Ford and sustained major injuries. During transport to the care flight helipad, the patron succumb to his injuries.  

The California Highway Patrol is continuing to investigate this collision.

The names of the involved parties are withheld pending official notification of next of kin.

In reference to the headline above, turns out the Little Nell Hotel Group paid $8.25 million for the seven-acre site located next to the Westin Monache. 

So the larger question is, how does this deal affect Dirk Winter’s current escrow for the Woodsite. As Karen Pesko says in her letter which appears on page five, the adjoining “Oetiker” parcel is involved in the same escrow. 

The price for Winter’s piece was said to be $5.9 millon for his four acres. 

In appraising both sites, Hillside is zoned for more density, has a better location next to the most successful hotel in town with the highest ADR (average daily room rate). And it comes with a development agreement and entitlements and even fifty dedicated paeking spots via 80|50 (I cannot recall the details of that agreement). 

The Woodsite has lesser density and some flatter topography. That’s about it. 

Karen Pesko and Dirk Winter have a lot more to worry about now than Mammoth Lakes Tourism and a pesky dispute over a $300,000 loan. They’ve got to worry about how the Little Nell deal may set the market. 

Yet another example of both marketing success, and the challenges it creates. From the Wall Street Journal’s Sept. 17 issue: “Utah’s Ads Lure Swarms to its Parks” 

In 2013, visits to Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands and Arches National Parks totaled 6.3 million

By 2018, following an aggressive marketing campaign, 10.6 million visits, a 68% incease. 

“With infrastructure and facilities strained, officials in the parks and their gateway communities have pushed back on both state and local promotion efforts. Grand County, which includes Moab, in June opted not to pursue a $250,000 state grant to aim more marketing at prospective visitors in Texas and Illinois. In February, the county put a six month moratorium on the issuance of hotel building permits.” 

“We’re trying to balance what we can do with what we’ve got.,” said Moab Mayor Emily Niehaus

And a detail from the story sure to confound Mammoth’s community development department and its array of housing consultants: 

“The Moab Adventure Center finished construction on a $1 million dormitory building for 64 employees.” 

I made reference last week to how Gov. Newsom and the California State Assembly is trying to kill business. 

Let me introduce you to AB 5. 

The law tightens the rules on those classified as independent contractors versus employees. 

“The court set a new, three-prong test for companies to use when determining how to classify their workers. To be labeled a contractor, a worker must be free from control of the company; performing work “outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business;” and engaged in an independently established trade, occupation or business of the same nature as the work they are performing,” explains the Associated Press. 

So much for freelance writers. 

Not quite. Here’s the exemption, according to AP. “It also exempts freelance journalists if they contribute 35 articles or less to a single publication within a year.”

So say I hire a writer for a starter job at $30,000 a year. And that obviously varies depending upon background, skill, etc. But for argument’s sake, let’s just say I pay $30,000. 

And I tell you, the new hires. They don’t know anything. Anything. 

Under current rules, if he’s a declared contractor, I pay the person $2,500/month.He/she writes off all expenses: travel, computer purchases, supplies, phone, internet. Which more than compensates for whatever social security taxes or income taxes they may owe. It’s a win for the contractor. 

And it’s a win for me. I put more in the contractor’s pocket, which allows them to pay off onerous student loans. The schedule is flexible, so they can take a second job if they’d like. And I’m not stuck paying all the damn worker’s comp (which is a joke. As if a 22-year old kid is gonna get hurt using a pad and pencil), the social security match and the like. 

But now, one way or the other, the state is going to soak this little last remaining zit of a bright light of the 4th Estate for I’d estimate $13,000 a year minimum beginning January 1, 2020. The staff will have to conform to regular hours in a business that has no regular hours. And forget any write-offs. 

What’s funny is that the people AB 5 is most concerned about helping, gig drivers for Lyft, Uber and the like, aren’t too crazy about it because full-time employee status would prompt assigned shifts and mandated hours. 

And according to the WSJ, “Morgan Stanley estimates the employer-status law could increase California driver costs by 35%.”

Which all means, dear reader, that prices for services (particularly food delivery) will have to increase. 

And is it only a matter of time before I have to charge for this rag? Hmm. Maybe we’ll call it the “BUCKet of Sheet?”