City Manager Márquez to Guest on Justin Chapman’s Award-Winning ‘NewsRap Local’ TV Show in September

Local journalist Justin Chapman has scored a major get for his award-winning local news talk show “NewsRap Local with Justin Chapman.”

At 5 p.m. on Sept. 16 the Pasadena Now reporter will interview the new City Manager Miguel Márquez.

“The city of Pasadena finally has a new, permanent city manager, and not a moment too soon,” said host Justin Chapman, an award-winning journalist who writes for Pasadena Now. “The September episode of ‘NewsRap Local’ will serve as an opportunity for the community to meet Miguel Márquez, and for Márquez to lay out his priorities as he undertakes this important new role at the helm of City Hall.”

Márquez served as the Chief Operating Officer of Santa Clara County. There, he was responsible for all operations of the County, the largest in northern California, with nearly two million residents, 22,000 full-time employees, and an annual operating budget in excess of $11 billion.

Prior to his role in Santa Clara, Márquez served as an associate justice of the California Sixth District Court of Appeal, as the county counsel for the County of Santa Clara, as the general counsel of the San Francisco Unified School District, and as a deputy city attorney in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office.

He began his public service career as a deputy county counsel in San Mateo County.

He has also worked for two private law firms (Cooley Godward LLP and Remcho, Johansen & Purcell), and as a management consultant at KPMG Peat Marwick, where he was part of a national financial and organizational consulting practice.

He was the first Latino justice to be confirmed to the Sixth District Court of Appeals. Chapman recently won three LA Press Club journalism awards, including 1st place in the Travel Reporting category, 3rd place in the Entertainment Features category and 3rd place in the TV/Public Affairs category for hosting “NewsRap Local.” In March, “NewsRap Local” won a 2nd place award in News Programming at the Alliance for Community Media West’s WAVE video awards.

“NewsRap Local” launched in April 2021 and airs on the third Friday of every month on Pasadena Media’s Arroyo Channel and streaming apps, available on channel 99 on AT&T U-verse, channel 32 on Charter Spectrum, YouTube, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Roku.

In each episode, Chapman provides analysis on local news, presents a “lightning round” of the month’s top stories and interviews a special guest or hosts a panel for a deep dive into an important issue facing the community. It is the only TV talk show that focuses exclusively on Pasadena news and politics.

“NewsRap Local” is written and hosted by Chapman, directed and edited by Ian Shea, produced by Chapman and Aaron Wheeler and executive produced by George Falardeau, CEO and executive director of Pasadena Media.

“This is must-watch television each month for everyone who cares about this city,” Falardeau said.

Previous guests on “NewsRap Local” included Dr. Ying-Ying Goh, director of the Pasadena Public Health Department; Rick Cole, former mayor of Pasadena and current executive director of the Congress for the New Urbanism; Congress member Judy Chu (D-27); Congress member Adam Schiff (D-28); interim Pasadena city manager Cynthia Kurtz; Assembly member Chris Holden (D-41); Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo; and many others.

Chapman was the youngest elected official in LA County when he served on the Altadena Town Council at age 19. He has served on a number of local boards and has written hundreds of articles for two dozen print and digital publications, including KPCC/LAist, Alta Journal, Huffington Post, LA Weekly, Berkeley Political Review, Pasadena Weekly, Pasadena Star-News, Pasadena Now and many others. He currently serves as Digital Content Writer & Editor for Michelson Philanthropies.

“Join me on the third Friday of every month at 5 p.m. for my analysis of Pasadena news and politics and to hear directly from community movers and shakers,” Chapman said. Learn more at justindouglaschapman.com and pasadenamedia.org.