Bertagna says ‘bye-bye’

Three-term councilmember won’t run again

Ending months of speculation, Steve Bertagna announced he will not seek a fourth term on the Chico City Council.

“I’ve made my decision, and it feels great, actually,” Bertagna (pictured) told the CN&R by phone Wednesday morning (Aug. 6). “Like any fine bottle of wine, if it sat on the shelf long enough, it might go sour. While this wine is still in peak condition … I did my thing and I did the best I could.”

His decision extends the cutoff for filing election forms to Aug. 13, instead of Aug. 8. By CN&R deadline, Ali Sarsour was the only declared candidate who hadn’t submitted his paperwork to City Clerk Debbie Presson.

Paradise, meanwhile, will not need to extend its deadline now that the third incumbent, Robin Huffman, is going to seek re-election. After failing to unseat Kim Yamaguchi from the Butte County Board of Supervisors in June, she opted to wait until August to see if she had another campaign in her.