New West Network

My Page: Jonathan Weber

Justice and the Flathead Boat Crash

The prosecution of Montana State Sen. Greg Barkus for an alleged drunken-boating accident on Flathead Lake that left five people seriously injured is not exactly off to a smooth start. First, it took an inordinately long time for police to release key evidence - namely Barkus’s blood alcohol level - and bring charges in the case, which involved a high-speed crash into the shoreline and counted U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg among the injured.

Then all three District Judges in Flathead County recused themselves from the case on the grounds that they had worked with Barkus on legislation. A Judge from Livingston was moved aside at the request of prosecutors, and a Judge from Lake County is now being replaced at the request of the defense. Barkus has pleaded not guilty, and his attorney says he’ll challenge the blood-alcohol test, which prosectors say showed Barkus to be at twice the legal limit.

It’s easy to see why judges would view the case as the worst kind of lose-lose proposition. Come down hard on Barkus, and his influential friends (who might be your friends too) will hate you for it. Go easy, and your neighbors (and the voters) will hate you for it. 

Luxury Resorts

It’s no secret that the luxury second-home market in the Mountain West has taken a huge hit since the national housing market went south, and the Wall Street Journal today does a nice job of detailing the carnage at the highest of the high-end hot-spots. A 10,000 square foot house in the prestigious Starwood area of Aspen (6 acres, barn and guest house) is now listed at $9.95 millioin, down from $15.9 million - and it hasn’t sold yet. Sun Valley, Jackson Hole and Park City are all seeing dramatic declines in sale prices and transaction volume.

While there are some signals that the high-end resort market isn’t totally dead - Sam Byrne, the new owner of the Yellowstone Club in Montana, reported surprisingly strong sales activity when he spoke at NewWest.Net’s recent conference - the frenzied building of the 1990s and 2000s has left plenty of inventory of multi-million-dollar mountain homes that will undoubtedly take a while to absorb - even in Aspen.

Elizabeth Clare Prophet

When I first came to Montana in 1982, I got a job waiting tables at Chico Hot Springs, and the hot issue of the moment in Paradise Valley was the Church Universal and Triumphant.  The cult-like religious sect had just purchased Malcolm Forbes’ spectacular ranch in Corwin Springs, and the locals feared that a big influx of church members would lead to a literal takeover of Park County.

It didn’t happen that way, though the Church achieved more than a little notoriety later in the decade when it stockpiled weapons and built a huge bomb shelter just north of Yellowstone Park. The end of the world is nigh, said the group’s charismatic leader, Elizabeth Clare Prophet. When the apocalypse didn’t happen on the appointed date in 1990, the church began to fade.

Prophet was later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, and lived her last years in seclusion in Bozeman. She died on Thursday, and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle has a good story on this strange chapter in the history of Southwest Montana.

Sports and Education

University of Montana football coach Bobby Hauck is no fan of the press, or at least not press that actually does its job by asking questions. But whether or not that’s an appropriate attitude for the leader of the highest-profile sports team in the state, his recent behavior towards the UM student newspaper, the Montana Kaimin, is downright embarrassing. If he can’t grow up, he needs to find a new job.

OCt. 12-13 in Missoula

NewWest.Net’s Real Estate and Development in the Northern Rockies conference kicks off on Monday, and if you haven’t signed up yet there are still some options.

On Monday, the two Missoula tours are sold out, but we still have some room left for the Butte historic preservation and redevelopment tour, which promises to be fascinating. (You’ll need to sign up in advance for that one as it leaves at 8:00 a.m. Monday.) On Monday afternoon at 4:30 we formally kick off at the MCT Theatre with economist Christopher Thornberg, who has become something of a cult figure among folks who have seen his dead-on accurate real estate market forecasts at our previous conferences. His talk will be followed by a reception, sponsored by First Security Bank. We have a limited number of $39 tickets for Thornberg’s presentation and the reception only; on-site tickets will be available, space permitting.

Tuesday is a full day at the Hilton Garden Inn, with three tracks of break-out sessions in the morning and a plenary session in the afternoon. The afternoon features Luther Propst of the Sonoran Institute, Roger Lang of Sun Ranch, Michelle Sulllivan of Sullivan & Assoc., architect Andy Erstad, and developers Mark Wolley and Keith Simon, among others, and will conclude with Sam Byrne, the new owner of the Yellowstone Club. The Tuesday evening reception will feature music with Shane Clouse and Tom Catmull, sponsored by WGM Group. Tuesday-only ticket are available for $198, and include breakfast, lunch, breaks, and the reception (as well as all the great presentations, of course). You can sign up online or on-site at the Hilton.

We hope to see you at the event, please call 406-829-1725 if you have questions, or visit the conference website at www.newwest.net/realestate.

4th Annual Real Estate and Development in the Northern Rockies

Since we launched our regional conference series four years ago, we’ve taken pride in providing carefully crafted programs of top-notch speakers, with high production values all the way around. And one result is that we have been able to qualify our conferences for continuing education credit in multiple disciplines.

Oftentimes, professionals regard continuing education as a burden, and the traditional providers of continuing education often respond with courses that are designed to satisfy the requirement, nothing more and nothing less. But at NewWest.Net’s Real Estate and development in the Northern Rockies conference - the fourth annual edition takes place next week, Oct. 12-13 in Missoula - you can get your credits, and have a fantastic and broadly educational experience too.

Architects, planners, Montana appraisers, Montana lawyers and Montana and Idaho real estate agents can all get credit at Real Estate and Development in the Northern Rockies. We know you won’t be disappointed - we consistently receive overwhelmingly positive responses from attendees on the quality of our programs. We hope you can join us. Visit NewWest.Net/realestate or call 406-829-1725 for more details.

Tickets Now Available

Christopher Thornberg of Beacon Economics in Los Angeles is one of the few economists to have predicted the housing bust, and we’re delighted to have him once again as a keynote speaker for NewWest.Net’s Real Estate and Development in the Northern Rockies conference, Oct. 12-13 in Missoula.

Chris is a fantastic presenter, and this year he’ll be opening the conference at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 12, with a special session at the MCT Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Missoula. We have a limited number of tickets available for Chris’s talk and the opening reception only: these are priced at $39. (Visit www.NewWest.Net/realestate or call 406-829-1725 to register).

I chatted with Chris this morning about his current assessment of the national real estate market and the economy as a whole.

4th Annual Real Estate and Development in the Northern Rockies

We’re delighted to announce that we’ve added yet a few more top-notch speakers Real Estate and Development in the Northern Rockies (Oct. 12-13 in Missoula), rounding out what promises to be our best program yet.

Michelle Sullivan, a veteran non-profit executive and all-around mover-and-shaker in Wyoming, will join us to discuss community in the New West, and how it evolves in an age of sharp ideological difference. Also from Wyoming, we’re pleased to welcome Jonathan Schechter of the Charture Institute, who will join the Tuesday panel discussion about conservation development.

And for our developer panel on Tuesday afternoon, which will offer a broad look at what’s getting built these days, and how, we’re featuring an exceptionally diverse line-up. The session includes Keith Simon, a San Francisco-based developer and investor and partner in a controversial project on the north end of Flathead Lake; Andy Erstad, a renowned Boise-based architect; Mark Woolley, a developer and consultant based in Salt Lake who has several active projects in Wyoming; and Eric Ossorio, a highly knowledgeable Big Sky real estate broker.

All of this of course is in addition to our three keynote speakers, four pre-conference tours, six break-out sessions, two receptions and much more. You can see all the details at www.newwest.net/realestate, or call 406-829-1725. We look forward to seeing you there!

AIA Architecture Credits Available

NewWest.Net’s Real Estate and Development in the Northern Rockies conference, Oct. 12-13 in Missoula, has many dimensions, and one of them is great architecture and community design. We’re delighted this year to welcome a number of leading regional designers to Missoula, including Lori Ryker, author and architect and founder of the Livingston-based Artemis Institute, who will give a talk entitled “The Case for Civic Architecture in Rural Environments”; Stefan Pellegrini of Berkeley-based Opiticos Design, who will discuss design and the evolution of small towns; and Andy Erstad of Boise-based Erstad Architects, who will be part of a wide-ranging conversation on design and development trends in the region. Among our local architectural luminaries, Jeff Crouch of Kibo will discuss new directions in sustainable design and building, and Marty Noyd of Oz Architects will talk about the new Garlington Lohn and Robinson building that’s now under construction in downtown Missoula.

Other design-related sessions will include a presentation on resort communities by Rebecca Zimmermann, President of Design Workshop, one of the nation’s leading landscape architecture and urban design firms. And don’t forget the Butte architectural heritage tour, an opportunity to see up close some of the most magnificent buildings in the Mountain West. NewWest.Net is a qualified provider for the prestigious American Institute of Architects continuing education program, and AIA credits are available. Visit www.newwest.net/realestate for all the details, or call 406-829-1725.

Blaming the Messenger

The University of Montana student newspaper, the Montana Kaimin, on Friday reported that two football players were involved in an assault on another student last March, and that Coach Bobby Hauck swept the incident under the rug. The alleged assault is the latest in a long series of incidents involving violent off-the-field behavior by members of the UM football team.

The Kaimin also reported that when a reporter asked for comment about the incident, Hauck said: “You’re done for the day, and you’ll be done for the season if you keep bugging me about this thing that I’ve answered four fucking times.” The two players allegedly knocked a student unconscious and kicked him in the face following an altercation at a party; they were held out of one game this season, but otherwise apparently faced no sanctions.

In a furious editorial, Kaimin sports editor Roman Stubbs called the allegations involving the two players “disturbing, sickening, alarming,” and denounced Hauck for building a “wall of silence” around the incident and refusing to take responsibility or hold anyone accountable. “A college football coach should never be blamed for isolated incidents,” Stubbs wrote. “But when accusations form a pattern, then not only do the upstanding Griz players become stigmatized, but so does this school, this city and this state. It becomes embarassing. And it falls on the commander in chief.”

UM football spokesman Dave Guffey said in an email to NewWest.Net: “We have no comment on this matter.”