Pasadena Media’s award-winning local TV talk show “Pasadena Monthly with Justin Chapman” continues this Friday at 5 p.m., featuring guest Shivaji Deshmukh, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District. 

Deshmukh took over as Metropolitan's general manager at the beginning of this year, having joined Metropolitan in November as general manager-designate. He came to Metropolitan from the Inland Empire Utilities Agency, where he was general manager for six years. Before that, he served as assistant general manager at West Basin Municipal Water District and as program manager at Orange County Water District.

“Pasadena Monthly” airs at 5 p.m. PT on the fourth 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. The show is written, hosted and produced by Chapman, directed and edited by Jeffrey Stanfill, supervised by producer Jasiri Jenkins-Glenn, executive produced by Chris Miller and chief executive produced by George Falardeau, CEO and executive director of Pasadena Media.

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

In 2024 and earlier this month, “Pasadena Monthly” won 1st place awards in the Talk Show category at the Alliance for Community Media West’s WAVE (Western Access Video Excellence) Awards. Chapman also won a 3rd place journalism award in the Talk/Public Affairs category of the LA Press Club’s 66th Annual Southern California Journalism Awards for hosting “Pasadena Monthly.” He has won more than a dozen LA Press Club journalism awards, including three 1st place awards. His other TV show, “Well Read with Justin Chapman,” won a 1st place Hometown Media Award from the Alliance for Community Media last year and was a finalist again in this year’s WAVE Awards.

Earlier this year, the show won another 1st place video award in the Talk Show category at the Alliance for Community Media West’s WAVE (Western Access Video Excellence) Awards for its January 2025 episode about the Eaton Fire.

In June, Chapman was a finalist in the Local Political/Government Reporting (Broadcast) category of the LA Press Club journalism awards for “Pasadena Monthly.” He won a 3rd^rplace journalism award for “Well Read” in the LA Press Club’s National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards in December.

Guests on “Pasadena Monthly” (and its previous iteration, “NewsRap Local”) have included Congress member Judy Chu; Congress member Adam Schiff; Assembly member Chris Holden; Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo; Pasadena city manager Miguel Márquez; LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger; JPL director Dr. Laurie Leshin; former Congress member Katie Hill; 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 wrote hundreds of articles for dozens of print and digital publications, including KPCC/LAist, Alta Journal, Huffington Post, LA Weekly, Irish Post, Berkeley Political Review, Pasadena Weekly, Pasadena Star-News, Pasadena Now and many others. He is the author of Saturnalia and Paradise Springs. He was a professional child actor who starred in dozens of movies, TV shows, commercials and plays. He previously served as Communications Officer for USC Annenberg’s Pacific Council on International Policy think tank and currently serves as the District 6 Council Liaison/Field Representative to Pasadena Councilmember Steve Madison.

Learn more at justindouglaschapman.com and pasadenamedia.org.