What an interest rate increase means for inflation

S1: How a small interest rate hike may help cool down inflation.
S2: This is the one tool that the Fed has to try to bring things back into balance and slow down the economy and reduce inflation.
S1: I'm Maureen CAVANAUGH with Jade Heineman. This is KPBS Midday Edition. A death in sheriff's custody leads to an $85 million judgment against the county.
S3: One of the attorneys said that , you know , he felt that this verdict was about accountability and he felt there's a lot of good officers who do these jobs , but they feel like that maybe there was not a good job done of getting rid of bad apples.
S1: Ways to rethink transportation needs in San Diego and how San Diego's live music industry survived COVID. That's ahead on Midday Edition. The Federal Reserve made a move yesterday to cool down the inflationary spiral that's made gas , food and housing prices spike. It raised the interest rate banks used to lend money to each other overnight by a quarter of a percent. The small bump in rates may not sound like much , but it's expected to have a cascading effect through the economy. And Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said there will be six more interest rate increases this year. Just how are those bumps in the rate supposed to bring down prices while maintaining a booming economy ? Joining me is the chief economist of the San Diego Association of Governments. Ray. Major and Ray , welcome.
S2: Thank you very much for having me , Maureen.
S1: The headlines say this is the end of free money.
S2: And so by allowing interest rates to remain low , it allowed people to borrow money at very reasonable rates or close to zero in some cases and be able to spur the economy.
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S2: And so what happens is people have less money to spend on other goods. And when you do that , you end up cooling down the economy. So , for instance , if you have a $600,000 loan right now , 4% , for instance , you would be paying about $864 a month in mortgage payment. But by raising the interest rates by a quarter of a percent , that payment would go to about $2,000 a month. And so what happens is that takes money out of the consumer's pocket that they would normally be spending on something else. And it puts it towards , for instance , in this case , their mortgage payment.
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S2: You're also going to see payments on variable rate loans like credit cards start to creep up also. So that's where you're going to see it first. But with a quarter of a percent increase , you won't feel it too much at the beginning.
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S2: And so what they're showing us is that interest rates will be going up over the next year , and it allows the economy to adjust for that in small steps rather than doing it all at once.
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S2: We've been looking at this for a while in terms of an increase. But as you see , inflation starting to really spiral out of control. This is the one tool that the Fed has to try to bring things back into balance and slow down the economy and reduce inflation. So this is a is a very likely step that they would take. And I think everybody pretty much knew that.
S1: You know , we've been seeing headlines for months and months now about the incredibly high housing prices in San Diego.
S2: I don't know that it will necessarily bring down housing prices. And the reason is that there's still a tremendous amount of demand out there for housing. We have a housing shortage here in San Diego that keeps those those housing prices high. But what will happen is that more and more consumers will be priced out of the market. So as these mortgage interest rates start to go up , fewer people are qualified for the homes that they're going after. So we're right now , you see ten or 20 people making an offer on a house. Half of those people may not be qualified to make that offer next year.
S1: Now , an interest rate hike is also supposed to slow down business expansion and job creation.
S2: And so if you slow down business expansion a little bit , I'm not sure that you're going to feel it right now because there are a lot of job openings. But as interest rates start to creep up higher and you continue to see the impact of inflation and if these interest rate hikes aren't enough to lower inflation , what you will see is businesses having to figure out how to cut back. And a lot of that would be on purchases of new equipment , for instance , because they would be more expensive , but also on labor.
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S2: And I think this is. Again , why the Fed is doing it in very small increments is because they're trying to make sure that the economy has what would be considered a soft landing so that we can anticipate what's happening and not just grind the entire economy to a halt. But it is something that is going to be of concern and something that we should watch in the in the year to come.
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S2: But I think that over the course of a couple of rate hikes , you'll really start to see the payments change. And again , like I say , a quarter of a percentage is not that much. But after the a series of six rate hikes , this becomes a real issue for the economy. It's a problem for the consumer when we start to do a series of rate hikes like this.
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S2: And so anything that the federal government could do to slow the amount of money that they pump into the economy would help to slow down inflation. And a lot of this inflation is caused by the stimulus that we saw during the past two years in the pandemic , in the in the government spending the trillions of dollars that was pumped into the economy by slowing that down. What you would be able to do is to slow down the economy without necessarily having to raise interest rates.
S1: I've been speaking with the chief economist of the San Diego Association of Governments. Ray , Major and Ray , thank you.
S2: Thank you very much.
S4: The family of a man who died after a 2015 arrest in Santee has been awarded $85 million by a jury. The civil suit filed against San Diego County alleged excessive force , negligence and wrongful death and the arrest of 32 year old Luckie Fonzi. Teri Figueroa has been covering this story for the San Diego Union-Tribune. She joins us with more. Terry , welcome. Hi.
S3: Hi. Thanks for having me this morning.
S4: First , tell me about Lucky Fonzie. He was just 32 when he died.
S3: Yes , he lived in San Diego. And on that particular day that this incident happened , he and his wife and their children , they had a two year old and at the time a four month old baby. They were out at extended family in Santee to celebrate the two year old's second birthday. And and it seems that Mr. according to the family , according to the lawsuit , Mr. Fonsi was having an extreme difficulty sleeping. He had been suffering from insomnia for a couple of days , and ultimately that lack of sleep led him to start to become very paranoid , is what the family said. And he started to fear that someone was coming after them and was going to harm them. And so he picked up the phone and called 911. Briefly.
S4: Briefly. Remind us of what happened back in 2015 when Lucky encountered deputies.
S3: So what the family had said in their lawsuit was that the deputies came and they were going to talk to him , and when they went to put handcuffs on him , that left him very , very scared. He got he got scared , frightened , confused. And that really escalated the situation and that he fought back against the deputies trying to put handcuffs on him. In the course of that encounter there , the deputies tasered him. I think he'd been tasered at least three times. And they also struck him. So it was it was very much a struggle. Eventually , several more deputies arrived and they were able to get him in a restraint and bring him outside. The restraint was something that the plaintiffs , the family , had said. You know , this was very troubling. The attorneys for the family said it was essentially hog tying him with his hands and feet behind his back and he was placed in an ambulance that way. He was taken to a hospital. There was a deputy inside the ambulance with him holding his head down so that could keep him sort of in control. And by the time they arrived at the hospital , Mr. Fonsi was no longer breathing and his heart had stopped. Once they got him into the hospital , they were able to revive him , according to the family's lawsuit. And but he never really recovered. And so he died a couple of days later. Mm hmm.
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S3: They may have administered a sedative to him , although there was some discrepancy in the toxicology. The family says there was there was not there. So there was a little bit of a of a question mark there. But the lawsuit targeted several people. It was first responders , the deputies , the paramedics. Ultimately , most of the people were later dismissed. Some settled out. So we were left of the when this got to the jury , we had one particular deputy and then the department as well as I'm sorry , the county , which would represent the department.
S4: And what can you tell us about the officers involved in this case ? We know one in particular pled guilty to battery charges back in 2019 in an unrelated case. Is that right ? Yes.
S3: In 2000 , 2019 , then sheriff's deputy Richard Fisher had pleaded guilty to battery charges following accusations by 16 women who had said that he had fondled or hugged or tried to kiss them or had some sort of encounter with them like that when they encountered him on the job. And the front seat jury , the jury in Mr. Quincy's case was made aware of that , that prior case. And Deputy Fisher is actually in custody right now , serving out the remainder of his time on that case. Now , the the jury in Mr. Jones's case indicated on their verdict form that they found that Mr. Fisher had used excessive force that they believed was a proximate cause of Mr. Fiancee's injury or death. And they also faulted the county for failing to properly train deputies , and they found negligence on that on behalf of four of the first responders out there. But they found no negligence by Mr. Ramsey himself , who was 32 years old.
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S4: I've been speaking with Terry figure over who covers crime courts and breaking news for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Terry , thanks for joining us.
S3: Thank you.
S4: You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman with Maureen CAVANAUGH. A pair of recent climate reports have outlined just how drastically our approach to transportation needs to be rethought , both nationally and right here in San Diego. Greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles represent about a third of total carbon emissions in the U.S. pre-pandemic. Data from the University of San Diego further underscores the state of transportation in the region , indicating that the percentage of commuters who drive alone to work has remained consistently high over the last decade , at around 75%. Compare that number to about 3% of San Diegan to use public transit. This had us wondering why don't more people use public transit and what would it take to get San Diegan out of their cars ? Joining me now with the answer to these questions and more is Nicole , its founder and executive director of the non-profit organization Climate Action Campaign. And Colin , parent , executive director and general counsel of Circulate San Diego. Welcome to you both. Hello.
S3: Hello. Happy to be here.
S2: Hey , thanks for having me.
S4: So , Nicole , I'll start with you.
S3: We also want to give people the opportunity to walk or ride their bike. So any mode other than taking a private vehicle to work is really essential in order for us to even have a shot at reaching not only our local climate goals , but also our state climate goals. I mean , we're just not on track at either the local or regional or state level. And so it's really incumbent on us to figure out how can we redesign and reimagine our communities so that there is alternatives to taking the car.
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S2: But I mean , I think the most important is just that currently for most people , riding public transit just isn't as convenient. It isn't as fast as alternatives , like driving a car. And so if we're going to have any hope of attracting people to public transit to make that better choice , we're going to have to make some really serious investments in our public transit so that it's a choice that people are going to want to make. And that means buses and trolleys that arrive more frequently. That means bus only lanes so that people are able to get where they're going faster.
S3: Also , we need to somehow put in a network of protected bike lanes and we need to build up , not out. So people are living close to where they work. We just have to completely reinvent how we think about how we're going to grow and create the high quality of life , clean air , beautiful environment that we all want to live in. And everything's at stake , but also everything's possible. You know , I really believe , like , we would attract more people and people would be clamoring to live in San Diego if we could sort of make that shift in thinking about how we grow and what the different transportation options are and how we redesign our streets and column.
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S2: We really should think about this as a positive vision and not just a everyone. You all need to stop driving and go do something that's inconvenient for you. I mean , that's that's not going to that's not going to sell. What we need to do instead is we need to be able to say , Hey , everyone. Wouldn't it be nice if you could take the bus and get there fast enough ? Like , wouldn't it be nice if you and your kids could go take a bike to the park or to school ? And we should be saying that , yeah , let's make the kinds of public investments in safer streets , in dedicated rights of way , so that those kinds of choices aren't just an option , but an attractive option , something that people want to do. And it becomes a real quality of life benefit for people who live in our region.
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S3: Unfortunately , the way all of Southern California , frankly , was designed was to center the car , that that is the most important form of transportation. And so our streets and our housing and our buildings just were designed. With that in mind , how do we get people from point A to point B as fast as possible in the car ? And as a result , we are way behind what other major cities are doing to help people have these better alternative , more healthy , safer choices. And , you know , we are now in this tough place where , you know , we are at a huge disadvantage because we have to unravel decades of overinvestment in our freeways and highways and fast moving corridors and really , again , just reinvent how we redesign. Our streets and our transportation system. So , you know , we really avoid trying to make people feel bad. And I think Colin said it accurately , like we just haven't made it safe or accessible for people to take transit and that's not their fault.
S4:
S3: We can't do it unless we figure out a more attractive way of allowing people to move around. You know , we are almost singularly focused on this cause and doing everything in our power to really make this a beautiful vision. There's so much hope here and opportunity. And so I think it's just a question of how can we make sure that all the policymakers agree and the broader community agrees , and that's we're working really hard to do that. I also want to highlight that actually our region is trying to do this. You know , this is different than what traditionally has been the direction of the policymakers. We actually have a pretty wide consensus that we have to change everything about our transportation system. And so there is going to be a citizen ballot measure , most likely depends on the signature gathering to allow us to invest significant resources into , again , redesigning what our transportation options are.
S4:
S2: And , you know , some of the things like putting coffee shops or having wi fi on the train or something like that , those are attractive things and sometimes people will talk about them. But when you survey actual transit riders or former transit riders or likely potential transit riders , they pretty consistently tell you the same thing. And that's what they want , is they want to get where they're going faster. That means that the bus needs to come more frequently. So they're not waiting as long because when they're waiting , that's part of their overall travel time. That means that they need the bus or the trolley to not have a whole bunch of extra stops so they can get from point A to point B faster. And those really are the biggest driving factors for whether or not someone will choose public transit versus driving. I mean , the reality is that for most people , already , public transit is more affordable than driving , especially lately. And so the big deterrent currently is just how long and inconvenient the rides are for most people. And so those things really can be solved primarily by just putting more buses on the road , putting more trolleys on the same tracks , and making sure that we are prioritizing transit on our rights of way so that they are able to get where they're going fast.
S4: Nicole You know , there's a lot of emphasis on the responsibility of the average consumer when it comes to emissions from vehicles.
S3: Again , we are all sort of victim to the policies that were adopted before many of us were even born. We just have a very oil dependent economy and we have a very powerful oil and gas industry that has really driven our political system. I mean , they continue to remain in charge of our state legislature. I mean , we cannot pass new necessary climate laws , especially around transportation , because of the power the oil and gas industry. It's just extraordinary how much they have infected our and corrupted our political system. So I do not lay blame at the feet of any individual. I mean , of course , we want to incentivize and encourage people , hey , there's opportunities to buy electric vehicles and the state is hopefully going to make that more and more accessible to everybody. And of course , like I said , we're going to try to reinvent our transportation system and our streets to make them bike and pedestrian friendly. But that's really what it's going to take , systemic change. And so I really don't believe in chastising any individual for the choices they're making currently , because like Cohen emphasized to that , our system just doesn't support those choices.
S2: I think the one thing they may just want to add is that we're seeing right now a situation where a lot of people who are currently driving to work or relying on a car , they're really getting hurt with being at the mercy of some big global forces that are , you know , adding new costs for them to get around. And and that's that's really tough for a lot of people , a lot of families. And I think that shows all the more reason why we need to make investments in different ways for people to be able to get around to get where they're going. You know , we need to make sure that people are able to choose public transit , are able to choose riding a bicycle so that they're not beholden to these enormous price swings for the cost of filling up their tank to get to work. And I think this is my position earlier , of course , but I think what we're seeing in the current affairs today really shows why that is so important.
S4: I've been speaking with Nicole Carper , its founder and executive director of the non-profit organization Climate Action Campaign , and Colin , parent , executive director and general counsel of Circulate San Diego. Thanks , both of you for joining us.
S3: Thank you.
S2: Thank you.
S1: The City of Oceanside at one time had a derogatory nickname , Ocean Slime , but now it's quickly becoming the next tourist hotspot in San Diego. KPBS North County reporter Tanya Thorne takes a dive into the city's history and how it's changing.
S5: Pictures of lowriders , folklorico dancers and portraits of homeless make up an exhibit at the Oceanside Museum of Art.
S2: This is Oceanside in a nutshell , basically.
S5: The exhibit is called Oceanside Unfiltered. In that corner is the curator.
S2: This show is really shows how there's layers in our city that form what we are. And , you know , it's not just about surfing. It's not just about the peers , you know. It's all the different fabrics of the community coming together to weave what Oceanside is , which is this multicultural melting pot.
S5: He's the photographer and publisher for The Outsider and Encinitas magazines. He says there are noticeable differences in the neighboring coastal cities.
S2: The main differences are the cultural differences , the ethnic differences. You know , it's it's a lot of white people south of here , and it's just how it is.
S5: The city is about 36% Hispanic or Latino. While Carlsbad and Encinitas are each 14% , according to census data , Cordner says the differences aren't just ethnic.
S2: Oh , Oceanside. I think for the longest time has had the stereotype. So it's a it's a rough city. You know , there's gangs , there's homeless , prostitution , all sorts of things.
S5: But how did Oceanside get that rough stereotype ? Kristie Hawthorne is with the Oceanside Historical Society.
S6: With a name like Oceanside , it says it all. It was established in 1883 by Andrew Jackson Meyers , and his sole purpose for developing his town of Oceanside was to bring people to it.
S5: She says the reason Oceanside stayed cheaper actually has to do with malls. In the sixties , the introduction of malls changed downtown U.S.A. and removed stores from Oceanside's downtown.
S6: So when our downtown changed and all of our department stores , shoe stores , clothing stores , they all went to the mall. What was left in Oceanside ? Nothing. We had a lot of vacancies.
S5: Vacant storefronts and lots took over. And Oceanside became known as Ocean Slime.
S6: When the car dealerships moved to Car Country Carlsbad. What were we left with ? We were empty lots. Or then that went into use car lots. We were once this mecca of of you know , shopping and car buying with a high tax revenue to used car lots. Surplus stores and empty vacancies.
S5: But that also made Oceanside cheaper , a place where blue collar working family could afford a home near the beach. Ten years ago , the average price for a home in Oceanside was $313,000 , while the average price in Carlsbad was $559,000 and $709,000 in Encinitas. But now Oceanside's real estate prices are spiking. They've almost tripled in the past ten years. That's much faster growth than in other nearby cities. Oceanside's nickname Ocean Slime is fading away , and Hawthorne says it's showing signs it will live up to its original potential as a resort city in 1887.
S6: We actually got a resort hotel. It was called the South Pacific Hotel. It was a four story hotel that was right on the bluff about where the current Wyndham property is now. And it was built solely to attract new land buyers , visitors and vacationers.
S2: I think within the last ten years things have really changed a lot for the in the community.
S5: Zach Cordner with The Outsider and Encinitas magazine will continue to document those changes. Though he says the changes could hurt some communities.
S2: There'll be pockets like that , I think that can can weather the storm. But I think overall , all the different neighborhoods of Oceanside , it prices are going to go up and locals are going to get squeezed out. It's just it's a fact and it's sad.
S5: We'll talk more about gentrification tomorrow. Tanya Thorne , KPBS News.
S1: Joining me is KPBS North County reporter Tanya Thorne. And , Tanya , welcome.
S5: Thank you , Maureen. Happy to be here.
S1: Now , you mentioned the stereotypes that have given Oceanside a bad reputation , gang violence and a rowdy atmosphere in general.
S5: But what is happening is that now all of those problems are being overshadowed by all the new things that there is to do in Oceanside. The attention is now on Oceanside's Beach front downtown area , the resorts , the gourmet restaurants , trendy eateries , coffee shops , boutiques. But problems like homelessness , gang wars , crime still exist. And many locals told me they feel that the investment has been made into tourism over local residents and addressing those problems.
S1: Now , Camp Pendleton played a big part in shaping Oceanside's reputation.
S5: But since then , the base has also undergone its own transformation more military housing. They have their own beach , their own gas station , grocery store. So Camp Pendleton has become its own little city. But Oceanside is next door , and I think military presence will always be there. There's still military shops , barber shops and dry cleaners that cater to our military. And they're very nostalgic because those are the establishments that really haven't changed much.
S1: Now , last year , Oceanside was in the news for dismantling a homeless encampment and installing rocks so people couldn't congregate there anymore.
S5: We're seen everywhere. But Oceanside is the third largest city in San Diego County , and there is not one shelter in place well , yet. Last year , Oceanside City Council chose the San Diego Rescue Mission to run its first shelter. It will be a 50 bed shelter at the former Ocean Shores High School facility , but the location is in dire need of a remodel , and the rescue mission hasn't announced any updates on how that is going or when they expect to open. But 50 beds is not nearly enough for the homeless on the streets. So just like every other city in San Diego , more needs to be done to tackle the homelessness problem.
S1: Well , as you said in your report , there's a big difference in the demographics of oceanside's population compared to the largely white populations in the coastal cities to the south.
S5: For a long time , the city was really the last place where a blue collar working family could afford a home near the beach. So lower income families chose to live in Oceanside , where ten years ago a home was around 300,000 compared to Carlsbad. And then scenarios where a home cost between five and $700,000 because of the base. Oceanside also got people from all over that really diversified the city culturally and ethnically. Oceanside is very diverse and it might be the last coastal city to look like that. So I think that's a big part of why many locals are rejecting the changes.
S1: Now , you found that Oceanside was really established in part as a resort destination.
S5: And that really puts things into perspective. And to me , it makes sense. The pier , the Bandshell , the train , the resort Oceanside was meant to be a resort city since it was established , but it hasn't lived up to it because of the changes that malls brought to many downtowns in America. Not just Oceanside. Small shops got pulled into malls , and Oceanside had an economic drop. But now things are changing. And this is a new chapter for Oceanside and maybe malls , too , right ? Because now malls are empty and we haven't heard about online shopping in or out , but that's a story for another day.
S1: Now , the price of real estate , of course , has been skyrocketing all over San Diego , but the increase in Oceanside is truly remarkable.
S5: People are rushing to secure a piece of that pie , whether it's to build equity or have passive income with an Airbnb. Oceanside homes are in demand and other home values in Oceanside have increased. The home price is still lower than nearby coastal cities like Carlsbad and Encinitas. So for many people , Oceanside is still the most affordable coastal city in San Diego.
S1: We'll hear part two of your report on the city of Oceanside tomorrow. Can you give us a preview ? Yeah.
S5: So , you know , I think the demographics are starting to look different. In Oceanside , a neighborhood that was once mostly people of color is now looking whiter and the people of color are getting priced out of Oceanside neighborhoods and having to move further inland. So I think Oceanside is trying to hold onto some of its historic buildings. But , you know , it's changing. It's changing. And not everyone is happy with those changes.
S1: And I've been speaking with KPBS North County reporter Tanya Thorne. Tanya , thank you.
S5: Thank you , Maureen.
S1: This is KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Maureen CAVANAUGH with Jade Hyneman. Today , we wrap up our series on the second anniversary of COVID 19 shutdowns and event cancellations and the impact these past two years have had on the performing arts sector. We've covered classical performance , the theater and today live music and local music venues. Two years ago this month , San Diego's vibrant , live music industry screeched to a halt. Venues were shuttered and bands could no longer tour or even practice together. Since reopening last summer , venues , performers and staff had to juggle evolving restrictions and more cancellations , plus added job duties for bouncers and bartenders in enforcing public health policies. KPBS producers Amylin Malherbe and Julia Dixon Evans gathered stories from people in the live music scene , including security , a performer and a venue owner.
S5: Angie Allman is co-owner of City Heights music venue Soda Bar. It's a 21 and up venue on the more intimate side with a capacity of.
S3: 230 people , and the spaces only open when they have a show.
S5: So in March of 2020 , when shows were canceled , revenue dried up. We checked in with her about the ongoing effect of the pandemic.
S3: So , Angie , how did the loss of shows and this changing landscape impact your business the last two years ? It's been really challenging and it's been interesting just the way the challenges have shifted over this time. Obviously , being fully closed was primarily just a financial challenge , making ends meet while we had nothing coming in to support us. And now that we're reopened , it's a whole new wave of challenges as things are sort of constantly shifting and we're ever adjusting to changing health guidelines and all the disruptions , but , you know , steadily improving now. But yeah , it's just required so much flexibility and creativity and sort of our was one of the first venues in San Diego to require that proof of COVID vaccination or a negative COVID test to enter. This was last year. And how did the patrons react to this ? Do you feel like it shied people away , or was it more like they were happy about the enforcement ? The vast majority were happy. We got a lot of people thanking us for it. Of course , as everyone knows , there were definitely people that were unhappy about it. And unfortunately , those people tended to be the most vocal. And in the early days , our staff really took some heat for it , which was really hard and felt very unfair to them. So that was tough and we were so early to do it that , you know , we didn't have a lot to look to for guidance for how to best implement it and what to do in the beginning. So we really felt like we were winging it and that was that was definitely hard. It really helped. Once that became sort of an industry standard and people just got used to it because it was happening at every venue around them , made it much easier. What has changed in recent months ? Has there been a sense of it being back to normal as Omarion case rates drop ? Or does it still feel like the public is taking a while to get back out there to see live music ? I think we are finally hitting a point where it's starting to feel like it's getting back to normal. Bands are hitting the road at near pre-pandemic levels , which is great and our shows have been busy and the mood feels good and fun. I think there's been a real shift in the last couple of weeks that has felt great. Obviously , Macron was a real curveball and so that really derailed what was sort of ramping up going into December and that we had a lot of cancellations and that really slowed things down a lot. And we feel like we've really sort of turned a corner from that and it feels great. It's really been a welcome change to feel the clouds parting and some bit of normalcy for front of the house. Workers like bouncers , security.
S5: Endorsed off the last two years have meant constant changes and new job. Requirements.
S3: Requirements.
S2: My name is Ted Washington. I work security and also production manager at the Casbah in San Diego. When the pandemic hit and we had to shut down , I can say right off the bat that in the very beginning there was no work , we had nothing to do. We then went on to put together some streaming shows , which were great for the bands because bands were looking to do things , especially the local bands. And you know , as a musician you want to play and that's what you want to do. The hardest part of reopening so far has been trying to find a routine for the customers when they come to the door. The idea that they have to have their vaccination proof with them. Or a negative test. We have to make that clear before they get to the door , because if you don't make that clear and known before they actually get to the door , when they get to the door , there's always going to be a problem because they're going to say , I didn't know I needed to have that. I don't have that with me. I have a ticket yet. I don't have those items. This isn't right and not so much that I feel bad about it. As much as you just feel like if only we could get this information into their hands or into their minds earlier before they actually show up at the door. The rules , I'll say , kept changing so much that you just didn't know what you were doing from week to week , day to day. It became really an issue. Like I said , communication is the hardest part of the whole thing. And so the state was not really communicating with the venues exactly what we were mandated to do. And it made it difficult , especially in the very beginning where we first opened up you like , okay , here are the rules. You got to do this , you gotta do that , you must do this , you must do that. And you didn't know what you were trying to tell people to do because you didn't know what you had to tell people to do. That was the hardest part. The thing is , with bands , especially touring acts , if they lose a member or someone gets sick while they're on tour , they're going to lose money. The touring process requires a certain investment of money in the beginning , especially investment of money and time. Yes. Are you carving out a calendar for yourself ? And you've got to make this tour. You can't have people getting sick. So for the bands , the bands want as many of the safeguards as they can possibly have. On the other side of that , the fans are thinking , Hey , look , I am a fan and I'm not going to try to endanger you. I want to just come see the show. And I don't know why you need all these excessive safeguards when they don't see it from the side that the band is looking at it.
S3: For some performers , when things begin to reopen , some of the new challenges were surprising. Singer songwriter Juliana Zachary , who lives in San Diego but spoke to us while on the road on tour. Everything shut down while I was on the first ever do it myself and it was going great. And I just remember I hadn't heard about stuff in like December and then we were off on the road in March. I was following the news and it's one of those things where I was like , Oh , like , maybe it will quite hit us. I just remember like get hand sanitizer on the road and that seemed to be the only thing that we were trying to keep on us so that we didn't get sick. And then everything just kind of stopped and we came home and I didn't work again for like a year and a half. But an interesting thing that me and a lot of other people are experiencing getting back on the road because I'm on the road now and I had another tour back in October , I think it was is all right. My nervous system really needed a recalibration after a year and a half of being at home. I didn't know how to handle stage nerves. I didn't remember how to eat when I felt nervous , like I have to schedule these things in so that I have energy. And my first big show back was in L.A. and I played an opening set and I played in my friend Caroline Kingsbury Band , and I had to take a break on stage for my set , and I've never had to do that. I just kind of told everybody , you know , I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. I'm just going to need to like play guitar for a second and like calm down because I felt like , I dunno , it felt like something that like unscrewed my head and I was just like a raw nerve pumping out sound and I didn't know how to harness it a lot more. Preparation has gone into my mental health and making sure that I eat it , making sure that I manage my stress. I just don't have the same capacity that I used to. I've heard this kind of across the board. We're all just kind of wondering how we ever did this in the first place , this type of schedule. I mean , we have people in this band right now who are working remotely and also are able to tour. So like job security can also be a part of your life as a musician just because everything went remote. I don't have another job right now , but I'm confident that if I needed to do both , there'd be way more options for me , which was just not a thing before we'd all rather be home. That's a very new thing. Just learning that stuff is better than home is something that I can't even I'm trying to learn again. Shows are great. I think we just all forgot how great they were.
UU: Oh , time slowed.
S3: Snowden fled to China. You put.
S1: Maybe that's a recording of Subway song from Juliana Zacarias , July 2021 Performance at Soda Bar. You can listen to all three parts of this series at KPBS dot org slash arts.