Retiring city worker honored for service

Carson City City supervisors have honored Purchasing Director John Iratabal for his service to the city. He is retiring after 11 years with the city.

His retirement was met with praise and tears from city leaders and his coworkers.

He is "kind hearted, generally warm and caring," Deputy Purchasing Director Cheryl Adams said. "Those type of people are very rare. We were very lucky to have him here."

Iratabal's retirement is his second. He started working for the city of Reno in 1959 and worked his way from the survey crew to deputy city manager, a position he left in 1983 to manage a family business.

He started working for the purchasing department managing construction projects in 1988. He became the deputy director in 1993 and was promoted to director in 1997.

"I looked around the table at a staff meeting a while ago and realized 35 years was enough," Iratabal said. Other department heads "are all younger with lots of ideas. They're like track stars, ready to run. My ideas are old. I decided it was time to hang up my spurs. But I've enjoyed every single minute of it."

Adams will be acting purchasing director until a replacement is found.