From councilman to cop

Former Chico Mayor Steve Bertagna will be sworn in as a Paradise police officer Jan. 23. He was hired by the town’s Police Department to fill one of four open positions on the force. “He was one of the top candidates in terms of testing,” said Town Manager Chuck Rough.

Rough added that the 47-year-old Bertagna will bring to the department a “good sense of life experience and a maturing factor,” which should positively influence some of the younger officers. Bertagna, who’s said his lifelong dream has been to work in law enforcement, spent the last year as a correctional officer at the Glenn County Jail.

Bertagna served on the City Council from 1996 to 2008 and was mayor in 1999 and 2000.