Revere woman, 20, youngest ever voted onto city council

REVERE – Jessica Ann Giannino decided the day before the nomination papers were due that she wanted to be a city councilor at large for Revere.?I had been thinking about it for a long time and one night I was talking about it with my father. He was telling me that I should do it. It was the right time being that automatically there were two open seats,” she recalls. “I woke up that day and asked my grandmother if she would go to City Hall with me and that?s how it all started.”Her family admits to being a little shocked when Giannino decided this is ultimately what she wanted. “When she asked me to go to City Hall with her I thought, ?You can?t be serious,?” Giannino?s grandmother, Joann Giannino, said. “I always thought you have to be a little crazy to enter politics.”However, her family had her back.?If this is what she wanted then we support her 100 percent,” Joann Giannino added.That?s when the campaigning began.?We went door-to-door talking to people. I am a people person so it was great for me. I could talk to people all day,” she said.The gamble paid off. Earlier this month the 20 year old was voted city councilor at large, coming in a fourth with 3,590 votes, making her the youngest person ever voted onto the Revere City Council and the first woman in 10 years.?It is an amazing feeling,” she said. “I can?t believe it.”On election night, Giannino was not too confident about her chances.?I didn?t think I was going to win. I mean, nobody wins on the first try. I didn?t want to think I was going to win, then lose. That is the worst feeling,” Giannino said. “I thought if I win then I will be surprised and that just makes it more amazing.”Giannino?s family roots trace back a century in the city; her grandfather emigrated from Italy. She has lived in the house her father grew up in on Sigourney Street her entire life.?I have had the same friends I have had since kindergarten,” she said. “My cousins live on the same street. It is just a really close community.”Her father, police Sgt. Christopher Giannino, is a 20-year veteran of the department and says that has had a huge influence on her childhood.?When you grow up in a public service family it just runs in the family,” Giannino said. “Everyone ends up doing something.”The councilor at large-elect went to Revere High School where she was a National Honor Society member and captain of the golf team.Giannino is currently a sophomore at Salem State University where she is majoring in English and minoring in education. It was at Salem State where she started to learn the power of politics. She helped lobby for Salem State to get more state funding.?After that I was wondering what can I do for Revere,” she said.Giannino wants Revere to invest more in education and public safety.?Investing in education is investing in our future. I wouldn?t be here if it wasn?t for the great schools in Revere,” she said.She also wants to see more police officers on the streets of Revere.?The number of people in Revere compared to the police officers we have is crazy. I want people to feel safe. I have always felt safe but I grew up with a police officer. That is not the case for everyone,” Giannino said.Giannino enjoys taking risks. Her junior year of high school she appeared on MTV?s hit show “Made,” a show in which the point is to revamp high school students? image. She was “made” into a rock star.?They had an open casting call and I kinda just did it as a joke,” she recalls. “It was a fun thing to do.”However, since winning a seat on the council, some people have had some harsh criticism for Giannino.?Some people said I did it because I love the spotlight. That?s not true,” she said. “I love having different experiences in life. It is just part of my journey.”Some have also said that she is too young to serve on the City Council.?Not everyone in Revere is 50 or above. It is a diverse community and I think it is important that the council reflects that. I think it is even better that there is a w