Covina, California

Covina, California is a suburban city in the eastern San Gabriel Valley, about 22 miles east of Downtown Los Angeles. The City Slogan is "Covina – A hometown for the future." The City of Covina encompasses about seven square miles and has a population of over 49,000. The City of Covina overlies a major groundwater basin. An important ecological feature in the southeast portion of the city is the coast live oak woodland community.

The City of Covina is located strategically between Interstates 10 (San Bernardino Freeway), 210 (Foothill Freeway), 605 (San Gabriel River Freeway), and State Route 57. Though primarily residential, the City of Covina contains significant commercial and industrial areas. The City of Covina has a variety of retail, restaurant, automotive, entertainment, and other businesses. The City of Covina Downtown District features retail stores and restaurants and the Downtown Covina Thunderfest Car Show & Music Festival. The City of Covina has annual retail sales of $800 million.

Covina is home to several big box retail stores and a cinema complex. However, the largest employers in Covina are the public-school districts that manage the education of Covina's students. Other major employers include local healthcare facilities, including a hospital that employs about 1,200 workers.

Like most cities, major revenue sources for the city budget are property and sales taxes, and licenses and permits.

The City of Covina operates under a council-manager form of government. The City Council has five members who are elected to four-year terms. The City Council elects one of its members as mayor for a one-year term and another member as Mayor Pro Tem. The City Clerk and City Treasurer are elected officials.

The City Manager acts as Chief Administrative Officer and Public Information Manager for City operations and services and provides leadership and professional management to the City government. The City Council appoint the City Manager.

The Public Works Department manages over 9,400 street tress and 116 miles of roadways. The Public Works Department oversees street rehabilitation and other infrastructure projects.

The Covina-Valley Unified School District, Charter Oak Unified School District, and Azusa Unified School District serve the City of Covina as well as several neighboring cities.

Law enforcement services are provided by the Covina Police Department. School resources officers are assigned to Covina's high school campuses. Detainees at the Covina jail are generally held a maximum of 48 hours excluding weekends and holidays. The Covina Police Department was founded in 1916 and includes canine, traffic enforcement, communications, police training, and parking control units. Police cars were first equipped with two-way radios in 1949.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department provide fire and paramedic services for the City of Covina. Stations 152, 153, and 154 serve the City of Covina.

Animal control services for the City of Covina are provided through a contract with the Inland Valley Humane Society and S.P.C.A. (Humane Society of Pomona Valley Inc.)

The City of Covina prioritizes the removal of graffiti in the public right-of-way. Before removal, the graffiti is recorded in a database used by the Covina Police Department to identify perpetrators.

The City of Covina has eight City parks, ranging in size from 1 acre to 17 acres and collectively totaling 55 acres. Established in 1921, Covina Park is the oldest and most heavily used park in the City of Covina. Wingate Park is the largest park in the City of Covina. Community events include the annual Covina Christmas Parade. Also serving the community are the Covina Senior and Community Center and Covina Public Library. Covina Senior and Community Center offers a nutrition program and free classes provided through Mt. San Antonio College.

Public transportation services are provided by Foothill Transit (local and express bus routes) and Metrolink rail services. The Covina Metrolink station is on the San Bernardino Line, which runs from Downtown Los Angeles to the City of San Bernardino.

The settlement of Covina had its beginnings in 1882 when Joseph Swift Phillips purchased a 2,000-acre tract, which he subdivided into 10-acre lots and laid out a 120-acre townsite. The tract was opened to buyers in 1885. The name of Covina is a combination of the words "cove" and "vine," The Southern Pacific Railroad extended service to Covina in 1895. Soon thereafter, Pacific Electric red car service was extended to the City Covina. Covina's first school building, known as the Phillips School, was built in 1883. Beginning in the 1890s, citrus groves dominated the landscape for many decades. In the 1950s, the citrus groves began to give way to housing development.

Before citrus came to the San Gabriel Valley, Covina was the site of an experimentation for an ideal commercial crop. Wealthy coffee growers in Costa Rica, Julian and Antonio Badillo, were persuaded by prominent Los Angeles resident John Edward Hollenbeck to immigrate to the United States and establish a coffee plantation in the San Gabriel Valley. In around 1875, Hollenbeck arranged for the Badillo Brothers to purchase about 5,500 acres in what is now the City of Covina. Unfortunately, the region's climate was unsuitable for coffee growing and the Badillos soon went bankrupt.

Covina's Episcopal Church, built in 1911, exhibits elements of the Gothic Revival and American Craftsman movements and was designed by A.B. Benton, the architect of the Mission Inn in Riverside.

Historic buildings include two First National Bank Buildings, one which opened in 1901 and the other in 1924.

The Center for the Performing Arts is a $10 million entertainment venue in Downtown Covina.

The Covina Firehouse/Jail Museum is housed in a former firehouse-jail. Built in 1911, the structure was the first civic building in the City of Covina. The museum is operated by the Covina Valley Historical Society. The Historic Heritage House is also operated by the Covina Valley Historical Society and is staffed by volunteers.

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