Photo Courtesy: City of West Covina
Chris Freeland

By Natalie Kim

West Covina – On Sept 15, West Covina appointed Chris Freeland to the position of city manager, filling the void left by his predecessor Chris Chung. Freeland was born in West Covina, but moved to La Verne and attended Damien High School.

To complete the 100-hour requisite for graduation, Freeland worked with La Verne’s City Manager Marty Lomeli. It was during this time of service that Freeland was introduced to, and subsequently fell in love with, city government.

To pursue this goal, Freeland majored in Civil Engineering and Political Science at Cal Poly Pomona, and later earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration at Cal State Long Beach. In February 2001, Freeland returned to West Covina and worked in various city departments and held numerous titles, from Parks and Recreation to labor negotiation, before finally being appointed to his current position of City Manager.