With 49ers owner Jed York facing a potential suspension as a result of his recent no-contest plea on charges arising from a recent prostitution arrest in Ohio, the powers-that-be are making plans now in the event York isn’t available later.

“Let’s have conversations beforehand so that we know exactly where his wishes are,” G.M. John Lynch recently told Tim Kawakami of The TK Show, via 49ersWebZone.com. “And you can’t do that for everything because issues come up, like [the] trade deadline. You don’t know until you know, and there’s so many factors that go into that. But we’ll be prepared for everything because we’ve put in the work, we’ve put in the communication beforehand.”

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Even without a suspension, the dynamic has changed. York moved from California to Youngstown. He’s not around like he used to be.

“If he’s not going to be here, Jed, we’ve got to talk on a regular basis,” Lynch said. “He knows that, we know that, we’ve done that. Now, to the regularity that we normally do, because conversations kind of come up organically, no, but it’s probably led to a lot more scheduled meetings where, in the past, it was more organic.

“Yesterday morning, [coach] Kyle [Shanahan] and I were on a Zoom with Jed and had a great discussion about a variety of things. And so that communication is critical, I think, to keep everybody on the same page. And Jed, he’s been a great sounding board over the years. He trusts us.”

It’s not ideal, and it illustrates the value of having ownership who is in the building every day — but who doesn’t excessively meddle in the football operation. It appears that the 49ers had found a sweet spot previously, when York lived and worked in the area. Now, it’s different. He’s not there on a regular basis.

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And, if/when he’s suspended, Lynch and Shanahan won’t have access to York at all (absent burner phones).

Whether that makes this better or worse won’t be known until it happens. For now, the only certainty is that it is, and will be, different.