The board chambers were filled with an outpouring of love Monday. Monday was the last day that Mayor Blake Inscore and Kelly Schellong-Feola were members of the Crescent City Council. The meeting started with a PowerPoint presentation from City Manager Eric Wier about the accomplishments of the two outgoing councilors over the past ten years of service. This PowerPoint was not a straightforward affair, it instead took on the air of a roast. As Wier continued through the slideshow, the audience was treated to a number of amusing pictures caught of Inscore and some surprise pictures of Schellong-Feola.

“Time has a way of changing people and it’s always interesting to see how time does affect people,” Wier said, “and a lot of times you see aging with presidents and whatnot, I don’t know what to say about this aging process.” This statement was punctuated with two images juxtaposing Inscore’s appearance at the beginning of his mayoral term with his appearance at the end.

Following this hazing of Inscore, the flood of public comments on their tenure began. Many members of the First Baptist Church of Crescent City spoke to his commitment to his work as a pastor, as a mayor of Crescent City, and as a family man. A sentiment that cropped up again and again during these comments is that no one ever felt neglected by Inscore in these arenas of his life. He was always there to listen, to consider, and to move forward when he had his facts straight.

Other city leaders also spoke to his ability to cultivate such a wonderful staff, and to be dependable when you needed him most. Even the Senior Executive Advisor of the City of Rikuzentakata, Kiyoshi Murakami, sent his congratulations and warm wishes for the outgoing councilors.

District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard spoke to their long shared working history — from the United Nations to Del Norte County and the numerous other places they traveled together. He wrote some prose for Inscore’s departure from the council. This, and many other anecdotes were shared with the public, and Inscore received a scrapbook from Howard as a token of his gratitude.

“[I] really admire your dedication.” said Wier of Feola, “You have always supported this community from the get-go, from your time when you were on the council to the time away with the veteran’s monument, the Measure S committee, all the different veterans groups and organizations that you have continued to support. Can’t thank you enough for your just endless dedication.”

The remaining councilors all had brief words about Inscore and Feola, but Councilor Isaiah Wright noted that most of what he was going to say was covered by the full house that came up to speak to Inscore’s service to the community.

“I actually wrote four pages of something to say,” Wright said. “I’m not going to read everything, I’m going to read what everybody already didn’t cover: my favorite moniker I’ve ever heard from somebody is ‘One Take Blake.’ That is literally it. They covered 4 pages of information I spent yesterday reading, and that’s pretty impressive. The man was very loved.”

The newly elected councilors, Candace Tinkler, Jason Greenough, and Daran J. Dooley, came to the dais and spoke their oaths together. Following this, the returning councilor Greenough remarked that he was excited to be given another chance to serve Crescent City. The other new councilors seemed to hold their cards closer to their chests, but professed they were also excited to be a part of steering Crescent City’s future.