REVERE — Jessica Ann Giannino found herself in a familiar place last September when she finished in first place in Revere’s preliminary city election for councilor-at-large on her way to winning reelection in November.
At 28, the Sigourney Street native, is a council veteran who is decades younger than many of her elected peers. She is also Essex Media Group’s Revere person of the year.
Giannino was 19 years old and attending Salem State when she decided to translate her interest in on-campus civic activism into a bid to serve the city she loves.
“I got very involved in student government and I saw that it made a difference,” she said.
She ran for councilor-at-large and won a seat on an elected body that had not seen a woman member in years. She went to work and learned about the issues and concerns in each of Revere’s six wards and in each of the neighborhoods in those wards.
“The next youngest person was in their 60s. I earned their respect by working my butt off and showing I was serious,” Giannino said.
The hard work paid off: Giannino topped the ticket in the at-large race in the 2013 municipal election, winning 5,454 vote — almost 900 more than the second-place finisher.
For Giannino, politics and government are a family affair. The daughter of career Revere Police Department member Christopher Giannino, she lives in the house her father grew up in and her family owned a greenhouse across the street from their home.
Her late grandfather, Christy Giannino, managed her first council campaign and her grandmother, Joann, served as campaign treasurer. Long-time friend, Rosa Garbarino, took over campaign management duties for Giannino’s most recent campaign.
“The people of Revere is what makes the city special. They are incredibly passionate. The city still has neighborhoods where, when you move in, people bring you cookies,” she said.
As soon as she is sworn into a new term in January with council colleagues, Giannino will roll up her sleeves and get to work on priority issues, including Revere Beach and Suffolk Downs development and what she described as technology’s incursion into Revere’s neighborhoods.
She said ride services and Airbnb are increasingly becoming neighborhood concerns with security and traffic congestion as potential problems.
Giannino loves digging into research on local topics and holds her own in council debates. But her top interest and concern is constituent worries, gripes and interests.
“The most important thing you can do is be a good listener and take what people say personally. That’s what drives you,” she said.