David Vossbrink, the city of San Jose’s longtime airport and City Hall communications director, ended his four-decade career as public spokesman last week, celebrating the occasion at a mock press conference complete with a microphone-festooned podium and a newsreel-style farewell video from co-workers. Friends and colleagues described the 65-year-old Vossbrink as smart, fair and calm in the face of crisis, an assessment local reporters—always a surly bunch—would actually agree with. Nanci Klein, the city’s assistant director of economic development, called Vossbrink “serenity walking” and thanked him for teaching her to “answer the question you want to speak to, not the question you were asked.” (Can’t wait for that next discussion.) Former San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales, who hired Vossbrink from a PR post at the city of Sunnyvale, reminisced about their “interesting times” together, from scandal to milestones. The ex-mayor also noted that Vossbrink often talked him into calling journalists even when he didn’t want to. “David was that blue angel on my shoulder,” he said. Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone said Vossbrink’s honesty makes him an anachronism in “an age of alternative facts,” and lauded him as “one of the most thoughtful and gifted writers” in the communications game. Vossbrink said he lived by four principles throughout his career: tell the truth, represent what you respect, always return phone calls and never become the story. His wife, Audrey Wong, affirmed this ethos to scores of people gathered for the June 29 send-off party at Mosaic. “The David that you know is the David that I know,” she said. Her husband’s wisdom, she added, reflects “the Vossbrink family values” of reading, asking questions and looking things up. As the legion of PR and press flacks grows, while the ranks of dogged reporters and journalists continues to shrink, Vossbrink’s professionalism will be missed. As noted by San Jose’s Mayor Sam Liccardo, “Congratulations, you made it to your retirement without getting flustered.”