School Board Approves Vaccine Mandates For Students, Staff

Speaker 1: (00:01)

San Diego unified approves, a COVID vaccine mandate

Speaker 2: (00:04)

Trustee Macquarie, vice president, Whitehurst pain. And Berrera I

Speaker 1: (00:12)

I'm Maureen Kavanaugh with Jade Heinemann. This is KPBS midday edition. We'll get an update on boosters, variance, and more from Dr. Eric Topol.

Speaker 3: (00:29)

We need to get at least 90% of our population, but we're in the mid 50% right now we have a big gap. We need 20% more of the population to get vaccinated. At this point.

Speaker 1: (00:43)

Lamesa is Oktoberfest is back and the port of entry podcast profiles. Cross-border animation director. Hey Gutierrez. That's a head-on mid day edition. San Diego unified has approved a vaccine mandate.

Speaker 2: (01:05)

Oh, hi trustee, McCory, vice president, white horse pain and Barrera. I

Speaker 1: (01:14)

Board members voted to require full COVID-19 vaccinations for a school district staff and students 16 and older. The mandate goes into effect on December 20th. The school board's unanimous decision was taken after hours of sometimes contentious public comment and KPBS education reporter mg Perez is here with more mg. Welcome. Good morning. So who is covered under this vaccine mandate and what do they have to do by December 20th?

Speaker 4: (01:45)

It certainly has been a confusing time, Maureen. Um, but what we know for sure is that the mandate that was approved last night only impact students that are 16 years of age and older. The other students who are younger, uh, it does not apply to at this time, but that could change in the very near future.

Speaker 1: (02:06)

And if the students that are eligible to be vaccinated, that is students 16 and over and district staff, if they refuse to get vaccinated, what happens

Speaker 4: (02:16)

Well for the staff, uh, ultimately termination, uh, there is a process, uh, for them to go through, uh, before that would happen, but that is the threat for staff members, for students. It is simply a matter of putting them in independent study, which is basically distance learning from home. That would be the consequence to not getting vaccinated.

Speaker 1: (02:39)

Now, this mandate doesn't extend, as you mentioned, a student's 12 through 15, but they are currently eligible to be vaccinated against COVID other school districts in California, such as LA and Oakland require those younger students to be vaccinated. Why not? San Diego?

Speaker 4: (02:55)

Here's the very important caveat to that. Uh, the students, uh, 12 and older are under an emergency approval from, uh, the FDA. And so San Diego unified decided that they would only put a mandate in place for students who have been, uh, fully approved, uh, for vaccination. And at this moment that includes 16 sixteen-year-old and up, unfortunately they were not ready to proceed, uh, to lower that. But I'm going to, I'm going to tell you something very interesting that happened. Some people may not know there is a student, a board member who is a voting member of the school board. His name is Zachary Patterson. He is a senior at university city high school, very intelligent. He is the one that steered the conversation to, Hey, maybe we ought to vaccinate starting at 12 and they, they seriously considered it. And they went back and forth debating it. But the experts who were also involved in the meeting said that at this point, they were not prepared to move ahead with that. And so they are tabling the, the matter of, for at least a month, and they'll see if the FDA gives full approval. And then at that point, they will take a vote to move ahead to include those children,

Speaker 1: (04:08)

San Diego unifies, new vaccine mandate. There are some exemptions, but there are not many what circumstances would allow for an exemption.

Speaker 4: (04:17)

A lot of the debate last night was around, uh, children with special needs. Uh, they have IEP, which are legal documents that require they get certain services. Many of them are medically fragile. So in those cases, uh, an exemption would be considered and investigated. Uh, they also brought up, uh, students who are in foster care and homeless students, uh, mostly because of the instability. And so they would offer an exemption, um, or at least a consideration for extending the time to get vaccinated in order to, uh, to take care of their situations.

Speaker 1: (04:53)

Now, students under 18 have to get parental approval for vaccination. So this has really largely up to parents to see their teenagers get vaccinated. Isn't it?

Speaker 4: (05:02)

Absolutely. And, uh, the meeting was virtual last night. Uh, there was nobody in the administration building, but there were hundreds of parents outside the building protesting, uh, on both sides. Uh, and it is ultimately up to them, uh, to decide if their child will get vaccinated or not, but they of course will then have to live with the consequences.

Speaker 1: (05:23)

As you say, a large number of vaccine, opponents and supporters at the meeting, we have some of the comments from both sides. Let's listen to a few. Now,

Speaker 5: (05:32)

This forcefulness scares me. It feels a little like my daughter's going to be treated like a lab rat in an experiment.

Speaker 6: (05:40)

I am an advocate for Liberty, for freedoms and for choice, the fact that this is even an agenda item right now demonstrates the board's myopic view of this issue.

Speaker 5: (05:49)

If you want to live alone in a bunker and vaccinated or just work and go to school online, go for it. Otherwise we live in a shared community. I urge the board members to take into consideration working students' circumstances, trying to keep their families safe from COVID. When there are people who wish to not protect public health.

Speaker 1: (06:06)

That was Jenny stock, Chris Bush, Mica, and Sarah Shinta. Some of those who commented on the vaccine mandate plan during last night's school board meeting mg, there were reports that many in the anti-vaccination group did not actually have any children enrolled in San Diego unified district. So why were they there? Well,

Speaker 4: (06:29)

Um, politics might be one quick answer, but the public comment section of board meetings is exactly that it is open to anyone in the public. And, uh, there were lots of people there for the rally out, outside on the front lawn, who said they were there with the mission. They were there with a message. They were there to support those parents who believe that mandatory vaccination is wrong. So plain and simple, that's it, there were almost a thousand people signed up who wanted to speak. Uh, usually they, they limit public comment to just 20 minutes. They extended it to an hour, but that went past an hour to about an hour and a half. And that was not including any of the experts or presentations and then the debate from the board. So from start to finish, it was over three hours of discussion before the decision was made. What,

Speaker 1: (07:21)

As students and staff member's going to have to submit by December 20th proof of vaccination.

Speaker 4: (07:27)

Yes. So the 20th winter break is the deadline to be fully vaccinated. So if you're getting a dose two doses, you have to back that up to about Thanksgiving, uh, for the first dose. Uh, so if you've not had the first dose by Thanksgiving, then you're not going to make the deadline of December 20th. So there are lots of logistics to be worked out there. And when they passed the mandate last night, uh, the board was very clear about communication. They need to communicate clearly with parents so that they understand what the rules are exactly and how they can go about meeting.

Speaker 1: (08:02)

Um, now some opponents warned that students and staff may leave San Diego unified by the hundreds because of the vaccine mandate. You told us that some staff members may be fired if they don't get fully vaccinated in time, could the district suffer negative effects from this mandate?

Speaker 4: (08:21)

The answer to that is absolutely. There were, uh, teachers last night who spoke and spoke proudly that they do not support mandatory vaccinations and that they would leave, um, if they were forced to get vaccinated. So really it, you know, like everything else with COVID, it's never simple. It's never, you know, crystal clear. And so we will find out, uh, you know, in the coming weeks, uh, what that will look like and whether people are really serious about the threat to quit

Speaker 1: (08:51)

San Diego unified, we'll be releasing more information about the vaccine mandate rollout today. And we'll have that on KPBS evening edition at five on KPBS television. I've been speaking with KPBS education reporter mg Perez. And thank you so much. Thank you.

Speaker 7: (09:16)

Some recipients of the Pfizer vaccine were given a shot of good news last week when the FDA approved a booster dose for certain eligible at risk age groups, while a sign of relief for some many Americans who went the way of Moderna or Johnson and Johnson are waiting and wondering when booster doses of non-fire vaccines will be approved. In addition, dozens of cases of the highly mutated are one COVID variant have been detected in California all while flu season looms, right around the corner here. Now with answers to some of our most pressing COVID-19 concerns is Dr. Eric Topol director of the scripts research translational Institute in LA Jolla. Dr. Topo, welcome back to the program.

Speaker 3: (10:01)

Thanks very much good to be with you again. So let's

Speaker 7: (10:03)

Begin with this new variant R one. What do we know about it and how concerned should we be?

Speaker 3: (10:09)

Maybe we shouldn't be at all concerned. It's been around for a while. It has no worry with respect to out competing Delta Delta is the issue. There hasn't been a variant yet that we've seen, including our one that has any, uh, um, features that will compete with Delta. So right now there's only one variant, one strain to be concerned about.

Speaker 7: (10:33)

Well, with flu season approaching, a lot of health officials are again, concerned about a possible twin Dimmick of flu. And COVID, what's your opinion on that? Should we be concerned?

Speaker 3: (10:44)

Yes. The problem with flu of course, is our vaccines are not great. They're not nearly as protective as vaccines against COVID. Uh, and we have learned that using mask does help reduce the toll of flu, but, uh, it, it certainly is a potential for a significant flu season and they can be co-infections that is people can get both flu and COVID. So it it's something that we want to protect against against the use of vaccines against flu and mask to help prevent that as well will be helpful.

Speaker 7: (11:17)

Earlier this week, Pfizer submitted data to the FDA to clear use of its vaccine for the five to 11 year old age group. Uh, do we have a timeline for when approval for children under 12 will be met?

Speaker 3: (11:30)

That application was based on 1500 children between ages five and 11 that had the vaccine and another 700 or so, who got placebo? The data, uh, we haven't seen yet, it's just by a press release. It was submitted to FDA. We're expecting that sometime in the month of October, it will get reviewed possibly by indoc Tobar or early part of November. If everything looks good, it could get, uh, an emergency use authorization. So that's, that's the timeline that we're expecting.

Speaker 7: (12:01)

UC San Diego experts recently wrote in the Washington post that once a week testing for the virus in schools, isn't enough to prevent spread. Do you agree with,

Speaker 3: (12:11)

I couldn't agree more. In fact, daily testing would be ideal that's what's used in many other countries to promote safe school or test it to stay policies. Uh, but once a week is totally inadequate. And so every other day would be the minimum, but if you could do it every day and that's part of the problem we have is not enough rapid tests that are freely available or very inexpensive that are widely used. And so we're not still now so far into this pandemic into its second year, and we have not gotten the testing part straightened out

Speaker 7: (12:49)

A third shot of the Pfizer vaccine is now approved for those most at risk. How does that play into the fight against the pandemic?

Speaker 3: (12:58)

Well, the people over age 60, uh, are at high risk and what we saw from the data from Israel, which by the way, are the only data that we have about boosters, restoring effectiveness. There's no other place in the world that it has gone ahead with a booster program, but in over 1 million people over age 60, by getting the booster, there was a 20 fold increase of protection that is restoring it to the original level of protection in the high, in the mid 90% against severe illness, which includes hospitalization. So that is clear, uh, and age 60 should have been the cutoff, not age 65.

Speaker 7: (13:39)

Then if approval is dependent upon data for these other, uh, vaccines, why are they lagging behind in that?

Speaker 3: (13:46)

Well, that's because there's no Israel, uh, you know, there's only one place that's given booster shots, third shots at, at scale and has data. And there is no place. I mean, there's no place that has done that yet from a or J and J. Now you could extrapolate if we weren't purist and say, there's there's enough, uh, homology or similarity between modern and Pfizer, that we know that the boosters are going to be needed maybe weeks later, but it's an inevitable, uh, situation for people who are at high risk and age is our best way to determine high risk. So we could go ahead right now, the problem we have with the modern application, which is the same as Pfizer, asking for age 16 and older, to get boosters, that's going to get shot down because the, it doesn't exist even for eight 60 with respect to restoring effectiveness. So we're going to have to do some extrapolations because we don't have data. We only have data for the antibody response from the Medina and J and J we don't have the same type of data in a million people showing that it restores the high effectiveness of the vaccine.

Speaker 7: (14:56)

And, you know, while we have talked about herd immunity for vaccines previously, uh, does there need to be a critical mass of people getting boosters?

Speaker 3: (15:04)

It will help because in order to get us truly in the level of containment where we have just so few cases around the country, on any given day, we need to get at least 90% of our population, either with, uh, a, uh, a vaccine induced immunity, which in certain people will require a third shot, maybe a large proportion we'll see over time. And then of course, those people who've had prior COVID, which gives some immunity as well. They'd be better off to at least get one shot, but we're, we're at, you know, in the, in the mid 50% right now, uh, if you just take the vaccine side and if you add the prior COVID, you know, might get you to 70, we have a big gap. We need 20% more of the, of the population to get vaccinated at this point. Uh, and certainly the, the third shots will help in the people who are highly,

Speaker 7: (16:03)

You know, even this far into the pandemic, there is persistent misinformation about how effective masks are, or how some masks may be more effective than others, like in 95 versus K in 95. Well, what's the best guidance you can give to people on this?

Speaker 3: (16:19)

Well, I think the studies are unequivocal supporting the benefits of mass, uh, most recently large study, uh, from Bangladesh. But if you can get a can 95 or an N 95 minutes, those are better, but there is some expense attached to that. Even a, um, uh, any mass, especially where it's tight fitting over the nose, uh, is, is, is good, but the higher quality surgical masks are better than cloth masks. And as you go up the ladder of, you know, quality and medical grade, you'd get even more protection, but masks are essential. And, uh, there's just no way to counter the evidence, which is so compelling.

Speaker 7: (17:06)

I've been speaking with Dr. Eric Topol, director of the scripts research translational Institute in LA Jolla. Dr. Tobo. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you.

Speaker 8: (17:16)

[inaudible]

Speaker 1: (17:30)

San Diego's independent budget analyst. Andrea Tevlin announced her retirement this month after working at the city for 16 years, her office was established by voters in 2004 as an independent check on the mayor KPBS, Metro reporter, Andrew Bowen sat down with Tevlin to reflect on career

Speaker 9: (17:50)

Andrea Tevlin. Thank you so much for speaking with us. Of course. Thank you for those who are less familiar with the city government, what does the independent budget analysts do?

Speaker 10: (17:58)

The independent budget analyst was part of the ballot item, um, because we were switching from a city manager form to a strong mayor form. That means that the city manager is no longer here to advise the council on issues. So that's where I step in, but not just for the council, but for the public and actually for being independent, um, because the council members have very different perspectives.

Speaker 9: (18:27)

So your position was born out of the 2005 financial crisis that the city faced, right? What was going on at that time? And why was it determined that an independent budget analyst was necessary?

Speaker 10: (18:39)

From what I understand, there was, um, a lot of concern about having factual information from the staff, even at that point, um, the public's public did not understand the processes, so that's why they felt it. You should be independent because the council is varied. And then you have a mayor who is a political as well. And he's now running the, the city with 10,000 employees reporting to him and they thought that this would help the public. It would help the council because with factual information, that's how you get good decisions made. You don't get good decisions from a lack of transparency. That was the other issue. That was huge. There was a lack of transparency here, and they wanted those two elements, transparency, and independent.

Speaker 9: (19:38)

You've chosen to make this position a lot more about transparency than just, you know, analyzing community. Yeah. So, so why was that important to you?

Speaker 10: (19:49)

I guess just for my experience, I wouldn't have been in this field for well 30 some years when I came here. And I just know that that's an important part of the process because they can really make a difference when they're coming to the council or to the mayor. Um, if they have good information, uh, I just felt a responsibility for it. I really did. So we just decided it's even in our mission statement that I have here, that it's providing counsel in the community with our clear objective and unbiased information. So that's, that was our goal from day one. And we have really worked on that.

Speaker 9: (20:33)

That was one of the most difficult moments in your career at the city.

Speaker 10: (20:38)

My most difficult moments were in the beginning when no one understood, um, what this office was going to do, you know, particularly the mayor's office. And, um, it was difficult to get into that point where I could convince people that we are here to stay. We're going to do our job. We are going to be factual. We're going to be transparent and that's it. And it, it just took a while. You know, it just really took awhile, everyone at that point, you know, we were so focused on the budget. Everyone was very concerned getting back that that's the first mission everyone had was to just get that budget back in place. And I think after a while, people, people got to know that we were doing good work, not trying to criticize. Um, so, but it was a, it was a while. It was a while, a couple of years.

Speaker 9: (21:36)

What are some of the most joyful moments of your career at the city?

Speaker 10: (21:40)

I think the most joyful moments have been when people in the, you know, the, the council and the mayor's office and other people in the community groups got to learn about what we were doing. And then it kind of just slowly continued to grow, not grow in people, but grow in our work and our respect and the respect that people had for us. And that is what made me extremely happy because we had, we had a goal that we have from the beginning, the one I just talked about and, um, that was very, um, serious for me. I wanted it to be for the council and for the public. And I wanted other people to understand we were just doing good work.

Speaker 9: (22:27)

The city is about to start looking for your replacement. If you could give that person some advice, what would you say to them?

Speaker 10: (22:34)

The most important thing of course is to not be political, but you have to understand politics and you have to you're in that world all the time. And you, you, it's not like a job working for council members that you're their staff person and you're advocating for them, which is very appropriate, but, um, that's not what, that's not what we do at all. Uh, and you have to be really, um, diligent about it because obviously you're going to have some people who don't even have council members who aren't happy with you any given week. And that's good because they can see there are different positions that people take and that they have to deal with that too.

Speaker 9: (23:18)

Andrea Teflon, congratulations on your retirement. Thank you for your service to the city and thanks for your time today. Thank

Speaker 10: (23:25)

You. I appreciate it very much.

Speaker 1: (23:28)

That was Andrea. Tevlin speaking with KPBS. Metro reporter, Andrew Bowen,

Speaker 7: (23:38)

Dangerous air, a K Q E D investigative project based on analysis by NPRs newsroom looked at more than 10 years of air quality data and finds that children are especially affected by wildfire smoke KQ EDS for Rita job Vela Ramiro visited schools in rural Northern California. One of the worst hit regions in the state

Speaker 11: (24:02)

Long time, or say sports events, anchor the town of willows, a hundred miles north of Sacramento At a Friday junior varsity football game in this town of 6,000 cheerleaders shake their gold and purple pom-poms. They case covers nearby mountains in this part of the Sacramento valley as mega fires burn and Northern California, when there's too much smoke in the air schools canceled outdoor activities like football, but today is

Speaker 12: (24:39)

Better, obviously because we're playing the game. Stacey

Speaker 11: (24:41)

Lancey has two teen sons, one of them, a student at this high school. She's also a third grade teacher and says the bad air quality is affecting students.

Speaker 12: (24:51)

The kids going out to recess, playing sports and kind of like the overall health. We don't know why we're having headaches and runny nose

Speaker 11: (25:00)

Headaches, runny noses, and a myriad of more serious health problems have all been linked to breathing wildfire smoke willows endured more than three months of smoke per year. On average, between 2016 and 2020, making it the smokiest place in the state, millions of Americans are also breathing a lot more smoke from Western wildfires and impact felt from Los Angeles to Washington DC. That's according to an analysis of a decade of federal satellite images by NPRs California newsroom in partnership with Stanford university's environmental change and human outcomes lab got a shot in a small town like willows physician assistant, Brett brown, regularly treats patients at the hospital's family clinic. When there's smoke in the air, he sees more patients suffering, asthma attacks, intense migraines, and stress.

Speaker 13: (25:56)

There's always somebody who says something about, well, because of the smoke insert, you know, problem here, whether it's, I haven't been able to breathe as well because my allergies are so bad or, um, I haven't been able to see my mom and dad because of COVID and now I can't even go outside. So my mental health is so much worse.

Speaker 11: (26:14)

Children are more sensitive to dangerous particles and wildfire smoke because their lungs are developing since the scale of wildfires has never been seen before and modern history. We don't know much about the long-term impacts and that has parents like brown worried.

Speaker 13: (26:32)

So if you let your kids play outside during smoke days, what's going to happen to their lung capacity or their cancer risk. We don't know what that data looks like yet.

Speaker 8: (26:43)

At Murdoch elementary, hundreds of students pour out of classrooms and play with balls and hula hoops during recess.

Speaker 11: (26:53)

It's a good day, but principal MIGA Riga, doesn't take this recess for granted. When the air quality reaches levels, the federal government says are unhealthy, but Riga has to keep students inside all day. And that's tough for some kids

Speaker 14: (27:08)

We'll end up in the office, uh, acting out in class, get emotional one way or another, or want to go

Speaker 11: (27:16)

Like other school administrators here, but Riga monitors, local air quality reports constantly during wildfire season. He says he wants better forest management and solutions to climate change. So fires don't burn. So intensely

Speaker 14: (27:31)

The, that the decisions at levels higher than ours are going to be made, will be made to, um, make it be more,

Speaker 11: (27:41)

More like it used to be. He says, when you could go outside and not worry about breathing wildfire smoke,

Speaker 7: (27:48)

That was for Rita jumbo Romero for the California report. You're listening to KPBS day edition. I'm Jade Hindman with Maureen Cavenaugh, Bavarian traditions resume, and the Lamesa village this weekend with beer gardens brought worth in live music. Lamesa is 48th. Annual Oktoberfest is resuming fully in person this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, after going partially virtual last year, due to the pandemic. Joining me is October Fest event coordinator, Laurel McFarland and Bernadette Tarantino. One of the owners of Terentino's a longtime vendor of the Lamesa Oktoberfest to talk about how the festival is operating safely during the pandemic. Welcome to you both.

Speaker 15: (28:39)

Welcome. Thank you. Thank you. It's great to be here

Speaker 7: (28:43)

First for those unfamiliar. I'd like to ask you both to describe the Lamesa Oktoberfest event and its significance to the community.

Speaker 15: (28:52)

So obviously it's been in the community for 48 years, so what's so great is a lot of the residents and everyone from San Diego will bend there as a little kid with their father or their grandparents or their aunts, uncles, or their mothers. So a lot of it is family tradition coming back, and it's just really a great event. Also for the merchants. It brings a lot of stimulation to the economy down there, and this is really needed obviously after the pandemic. So it's really a great event that helps the local merchants and retailers as well. And it's just this amazing event that happens in east county and this really quaint community, which is pretty special because most events happen, you know, either at the waterfront park or downtown. So it's just really great that we have this event in Lamesa for east county and all people from all over San Diego county and Bernadette,

Speaker 7: (29:43)

What about you?

Speaker 16: (29:45)

It's actually a fabulous event. And it's like Laurel said, it's a family orientated event and people have been coming here since they were a little kids, which is so wonderful and the atmosphere is just so fantastic. It's so great to be back after two years of not having this event. So I think everyone's really looking forward to it and it's so nice to have it in the Mesa village. It's kind of a rare thing that you have an event like this, but the whole community is involved and that's, what's so wonderful

Speaker 7: (30:15)

As the Lamesa Octoberfest resumed this weekend. What will be different about this year's festival? I mean, how has the event adjusted to the pandemic?

Speaker 15: (30:24)

We've put in a lot of measures. I've also on the president of the San Diego vent coalition, which during the pandemic, um, we wrote a 70 page document on how to do events safely. And we've talked to the department of California health. We're always in constant communication with the San Diego county health department. So we have a lot of different things we've put into place. We have 27 hand sanitizer stations that will be stationed throughout the entire event. Uh, we have a hot shot, clean team. That's going to be in all the beer gardens and all the high touch points, wiping things down constantly. We have free mass at the information center and Ferris wheel booth. We also have, um, COVID guidelines. All our bar staff have to prove they're vaccinated. If not, they have to wear a mask, our production vendors or everybody who's coming onsite will be screened prior to being allowed on the site at our production tent. And we have a whole list. We have a COVID plan on the website, uh, Lamesa October fest.org. If people want to see a more extensive of what we're doing, but we've really put a lot of thought into this plan and we want to put on a fun event, but we also want people to know that it's also measures have been taken to help people have a safe event too. And we're, you know, following all the guidelines, put out for events by the California department of health and going above and beyond as well.

Speaker 7: (31:49)

And of course, last year's event was virtual due to the pandemic where people could purchase food and beer packages and enjoy the event from home. How did that go?

Speaker 15: (31:58)

That was good. You know, I mean, it was great. People had a great time. It was fun watching it, but to be honest, you know, I missed all the smiling faces and the laughter and, you know, we have so much fun. We have games, we have Ferris wheels. You know, we have the sit down beer garden, traditional bear hall. We added in 2019. That's going to be back as well. You know, there's nothing like in person to see, you know, all the people and all the fun. And it's just really exciting to be back.

Speaker 7: (32:26)

Are you expecting a larger turnout at this? Weekend's fast as it returns fully. In-person

Speaker 15: (32:32)

Expecting, you know, about the, how traditionally, it's really hard to tell how many people are going to come up out, how people feel. If people feel like they want to come out, we ask them to come out. We understand not everyone feels comfortable. So we just want people to come out, enjoy themselves if they feel comfortable. And if not, we'll see them in 2022. And we respect everyone's decision

Speaker 7: (32:55)

As one of the main food providers, Bernadette of the events, beer gardens. Tell me about your history with the festival and how the pandemic impacted your involvement in business. Overall,

Speaker 16: (33:06)

We've been involved with this October festival, the Mesa over 20 years, and I've been a proud to be the bratwurst kitchen. And so the Mesa, October, um, official bratwurst we're in tune with the health department. I've been working with them closely and to make sure we're going by all the guidelines and you won't believe it, our business grew last year. It's just so amazing. Our business that we're we're do festivals. Of course it impacted our business. We didn't have anything going on. We haven't done. Uh, it's been two years now, really, since we've done anything because there's been no festivals allowed, but our, our family business has grown. And with this pandemic, it was even better, which is the strangest thing.

Speaker 7: (33:49)

Uh, Laurel, uh, what was the pandemic's impact on the event as a whole last year,

Speaker 15: (33:56)

The vent and a whole, obviously it was not a money-maker did not do much for the community, you know, so it was very impactful in that sense. You know, the event industry in general was one of the most devastated, um, from the pandemic, you know, we went virtual, but virtual just isn't the same as in-person or live. And we were the first industry to shut down and we didn't ever open up until June 15th. So I think people forget that too. You know, other businesses were able to open up in some modified format. We never were. So we just really asked that people show some grace and love to all the event, people that are coming back, it's been two years, you know, people might be a little rusty. So we just hope when people come visit, there's some grace and community and people just, you know, high five great job to all the workers. If people can just really encourage them, it would be amazing.

Speaker 7: (34:50)

Bernadette, as a vendor, I know you've had to make adjustments. So what will you be doing differently to ensure safety at this weekend's event?

Speaker 16: (34:57)

All of our workers will be wearing masks. And we're just following all the guidelines. You know, we have the hand washing stations, of course, and the sanitized stations everybody's wearing gloves. So we're pretty well covered.

Speaker 7: (35:12)

I've been speaking with Lamesa October Fest event coordinator, Laurel McFarland and Bernadette Tarantino owner of Terentino's a long time vendor of the festival. Thank you both for joining us.

Speaker 16: (35:24)

Thank you very much. My pleasure.

Speaker 15: (35:26)

Thank you. And we hope to see everyone out in Lamesa this weekend,

Speaker 1: (35:39)

Like thousands of people in our binational region, film, director, and animator, Jorge Gutierrez grew up crossing the border between two Juana and San Diego almost every day that cross border experience can be seen in the work Gutierrez does today. He's the director of the animated movie, the book of life. He's one of the creators of the hit Nickelodeon show LT gray, and he's got several new, exciting projects coming out on Netflix. Soon. One of those projects is Maya and the three, an animated series that will be released on Netflix in October.

Speaker 8: (36:16)

I don't want to be cooped up because I'll print that great Eagle warrior,

Speaker 1: (36:38)

Alan Lilienthal, host of KPBS border podcast, port of entry, talk to the famed animator about his new show and his cross-border influences in a recent YouTube live event.

Speaker 17: (36:52)

Can you tell us a little bit more about how this came about and the quick summary of the, this epic quest you're taking this princess on?

Speaker 3: (36:58)

Absolutely. Uh, so, you know, I, I'm originally from Mexico city and I moved at the, when I was a little kid and one of the things that happens too, I think there are a lot of Mexicans, is that the further you get away from the center, the more you romanticize it, seeing a lot of the imagery of the handsome astic man holding the beautiful lady, uh, with the bubble volcano behind them, all those images that I saw in Colby has, and the side vans and, you know, tattoos and everywhere, I always kept going like, wow, the women are just the object of desire and they're the prize or the, it never the war or the warrior women. A lot of this stuff is mythology. Why are there no more women? And so I looked into a lot of the myths, especially the Aztec warrior, such a huge part of, of Mexico to the money it's in the soccer teams, it's everywhere.

Speaker 3: (37:52)

So I said, I think, I think we should hack mythology and I'm going to create this warrior princess. And it's going to be a metaphor for today and is going to be a metaphor for the history of the women in Mexico, who don't get credit for being warriors and just be married to a Mexican man. You're already a warrior. You already, already deserve a medal. So all the, all the women in my life, my grand mom, my mom, my wife, my sister, I mean the lives they live, these are warrior women. So I wanted to honor them with the show.

Speaker 17: (38:23)

Oh, that's beautiful, man. I think that's incredible because like we were talking about it a little bit before, uh, storytelling is so much more than entertainment. You know, I think if we want a lot of these societal issues to shift to a more harmonious place, the storytellers have a huge responsibility. The stories we tell shape our future. So I'm super stoked to see that I hear is going to have a soundtrack that includes a lot of metal music.

Speaker 3: (38:48)

Oh, hell yeah. Is a Gustavo [inaudible]. And he's working with a, another composer named team Davies from Australia. And, you know, with that with Centralia was very much a part of the nineties sort of rock and Hispaniola era of music that I, I was in high school and all those things happen. I joke with them that I lost my virginity to his soundtrack. Uh, when I would tell him that he, he, he would like just shake his head, but all that influenced [inaudible] obviously. And so there was metal cause to me, you know, there's a lot of metal bands and especially in south America that were huge. So all that made it into the show and all those ideas that culture is fluid and culture evolves to a kid today. And the music from the nineties is ancient. So that's ancient music now. So that, that was a big part of that.

Speaker 17: (39:38)

Yeah. It sounds like, I mean, in a, in a lot of your work, I can see this, but it sounds like in my end, the three, there's going to be a lot of, kind of mishmash of Mexican American pop culture, indigenous folklore, all kind of meshed into this story.

Speaker 3: (39:50)

Yeah. I mean, that, that was another big thing that I, you know, in book of life, some people were a little shocked to see our main character, seeing a Radiohead song in the middle of a bull fight in 1910 in Mexico. And I said, if I, if I used an authentic song of that time, no one would know it. But by taking things that I lived through and remixes them and re basically appropriating the soul of what those songs meant into the context of the movie, then you, you, you get to introduce him to a whole new generation and you get to introduce the duality of honestly, the border, right? Because I heard creep sang by mariachis. And I said, look, how great that song is that it, it went somewhere else. And I remember at the time I didn't know any better. So I put it in the script and yet I'm on the photo who who's a producer said, you're not going to get the song.

Speaker 3: (40:42)

They denied the song to, you know, [inaudible], they denied me the song. There's no way in hell, are you going to get the song? So I wrote, I wrote the band and we sent them a video of the moment in the movie. And I explained how that song was basically my war cry as a teenager when I didn't think I belonged and how much it meant to me and how as a kid. And that was literally my little flag that I raised. And, and Tom York said, yeah, you can use it based on that. So I am eternally thankful to Radiohead. And after that, every band that we asked who was on the fence about letting us use their songs, uh, we would say, oh, so, so you think you're better than Radiohead? Is that

Speaker 17: (41:27)

Tom York said, yes, that's incredible. Yeah. It seems like just having grown up at the board and crossing the border, I'm sure on the way to school and on and all that, it seems like a lot of that, the bright and wild colorful visuals that you see at the border are very influential in your work. And I know in this book of yours that I have right here, border bang, you shot at the border. And like all the border vendors who we've spent a lot of time talking to and their creativity and entrepreneurial spirit, how, how they're like they seize on pop culture and taking the zeitgeists, you know, and any characters, movie stars, rock stars, and kind of make, make them their own and are able to make a living off of them and support, support their families. It seems like this mish-mash kind of like culture is fluid, like you said, has very much influenced your work. Can you tell me about like how, how crossing the border, if that's accurate?

Speaker 3: (42:20)

Absolutely. Uh, you know, as a kid, as a, nine-year-old crossing that border, you know, two hours everyday to go to school, you're a sponge. And I would absorb everything that the vendors had. So seeing Tupac next to SpongeBob next to, you know, Bob Marley next to Scarface next to Chapo, the Lord show. A lot of times, I didn't know who the people were and I, I would sort of decipher like, why is Mickey mouse next to the Virgin, Mary? Like all those images got tattooed on my, on my eyes and then the borders alive. Right. So I remember when, you know, in Kurt Cobain passed away immediately, all those Kurt Cobain stuff started popping up. It's almost like the border honored him with the bootleg. The bootleg were laying down for him. And I remember, you know, same thing with Selena was murdered. All the Salinas stuff started coming out.

Speaker 3: (43:12)

You would know who, what teams were doing well, because all their stuff was selling. It was like the border was alive and who they chose to honor and who, by the way, who they chose to vilify. Right. So in Halloween, have you saw, uh, Salinas costumes? Basically the border were saying, yeah, the president of Mexico is the devil, right? Like all, I mean, all these immediate reactions that as a kid really informed me really informed the way I see characters and the way I see color mixing things is in our DNA. I think as border kids, having grown up with one foot on each side, you kind of get used to that back and forth every day and be able to, to go look at what happens to American culture when it comes down here, but then looking at what happens to American culture when it's recontextualized and represented to an American audience and, you know, Bart Sanchez from the Simpsons and all these that happening. I love all that stuff because to me, culture is evolution. And so grabbing these things and making them your own, your own. That's, that's the one that right. That's that's San Diego, that's the hybrid, uh, state we get to live in.

Speaker 1: (44:18)

And that was director and animator, Jorge Gutierrez, talking with port of entry, host Alan Lillian Thall to hear the full interview, go to port of entry, pod.org, or find and follow port of entry, wherever you listen to podcasts.