Business View Civil and Municipal | January 2021

129 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL JANUARY 2021 COLTON, CAL I FORNI A says. “Colton has had the lowest residential rates on electricity for the last six years now, and I don’t foresee us making any adjustments.” The City has deployed an aggressive sustainability strategy to meet the greenhouse gas requirements mandated by the State of California and the Federal Clean Air Act. There’s a robust electric vehicle infrastructure already in place in Colton, and they’ve joined the Climate Mayors Electric Vehicle Purchasing Collaborative to purchase more electric vehicles for their fleet. And Colton’s Electric Utility was awarded the number seven spot on the national Smart Electric Power Alliance list for small cities’ solar accomplishments and annual watts of solar energy installed per customer. “We’re working very effectively, efficiently, and proactively to meet those requirements that the State is mandating,” Navarro assures. Having been through the pandemic like everyone else, the City of Colton has emerged from 2020 with the mindset that whatever they’re up against, they can beat it. “Since I’ve been on the City Council, starting in 2012, we’ve worked hard to establish a vision for the community of Colton and to let developers know that we’re business friendly” says Navarro. “We welcome any business that wants to come into Colton, to explore the possibility and the venture of their investment. Look at Colton. We want your input as developers. Talk to us about your vision as far as your business is concerned. And we’ll work with you to weave that business into our vision for the City of Colton. As our motto says, Colton Means Business. It’s an exciting time for us. We had lots of new development in the pipeline that is now being built, and we do not plan to slow down.”