Mariposa contractors’ group gets new life after pandemic pause

After more than three decades as a voice for Mariposa County’s building community, the Mariposa County Contractors’ Association is working to rebuild itself after the COVID-19 pandemic brought meetings and momentum to a halt.

For newly elected association president Daniel Weiland, the effort is about more than reorganizing a trade group. It is about restoring an organization he said can serve both contractors and the public.

“The whole goal of this is community service — educating contractors and consumers so everyone comes out ahead,” Weiland said.

Founded more than 30 years ago by local contractors including Dave Wise, Dave Clayton, Ed Verley and Angus Bullis, the association had long been part of the county’s construction landscape. But during the pandemic, Weiland said, the group’s regular meetings stopped, and its work slowly faded from view. “During Covid, everything kind of got out of sorts,” he said. “People quit meeting, and it kind of fell by the wayside. Bill Verley and I, and others, had been bantering back and forth about this for months, but we decided we needed to get this going again.”

The group’s original 501(c)(3) nonprofit designation lapsed about five years ago during the pandemic, Weiland said, but Verley has since worked to restore the organization’s nonprofit status. “We’ve actually been working on this since the first of the year, and Bill did that out of his own pocket, so he’ll get reimbursed,” Weiland said.

The association’s licensed officers include Verley as treasurer, Rob Hambleton in human resources and public relations, C.J. Petretti as vice president and A.J. Verdugo as secretary. Weiland said each brings years of experience working in Mariposa County.

One of the group’s priorities, Weiland said, is working with county departments on issues affecting local construction, including the cost of permits and the number of new-home applications in Mariposa County. “We probably have the lowest rate of permit applications for new homes in the state, and we want to work with all the county departments to see if we can come up with some solutions,” he said. “We understand that the building department is an enterprise fund for the county, but we want to work with them on maybe lowering the pricing on some of these everyday permits. None of us are against getting permits, but we need to be competitive with surrounding counties.”

The association also plans to maintain a vetted membership process. Applicants will be checked against state contractor records, Weiland said, with the goal of protecting consumers while avoiding unfair treatment of local builders. “We don’t want any red flags,” he said. “There’s not a lot in Mariposa that have a lot of strikes against them, and we don’t want to be a lynch mob, but we also want to be there for the consumer. And as an organization, we’re pretty explicit on ethics.”

Weiland said the group does not plan to endorse political candidates, but it does want to encourage public accountability. “We encourage full transparency, and we won’t endorse anyone politically, but we want people to be accountable for the positions they hold,” he said.

Education will be another focus, Weiland said, particularly for contractors and residents trying to understand state housing requirements. He cited differences between rules that apply to some owner-builder projects and requirements under Title 24, saying those distinctions can affect whether projects must include features such as fire sprinklers or solar power. “That can save someone building a home a lot of money,” Weiland said.

Although many local builders still have work, Weiland said activity has slowed. “At least from my building standpoint, we have enough work, but it’s as slow as it has been in the last 10 years,” he said.

The renewed organization also carries a long record of community service. In past years, the MCCA hosted the annual Home and Garden Show at the fairgrounds, built the restroom at the Visitors Center, worked on the Counts House at the Mariposa Museum and History Center, helped with the historic caboose in Raymond, completed the Art Park walkway and built a concession stand and ticket booth during an effort to turn the lower field at Mariposa County High School into Grizzly Stadium. The school district later removed those structures.

Now, Weiland said, members are deciding where the association’s next community effort should be directed. “We’re weighing where to put our effort now,” he said.

Licensed local contractors interested in applying for membership may contact one of the organization’s officers. The association’s next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 29 at Grace Church Fellowship Hall on Woodland Drive, and licensed contractors are invited to attend. More than 20 local contractors attended the group’s first organizational meeting.