Chakoutis to perform balancing act

LYNN – Evelyn Kennedy walked into Old Tyme Italian Cuisine Wednesday and congratulated friend and Old Tyme manager Dianna Chakoutis.?You?re going to be a busy girl now,” Kennedy said as Chakoutis guided Kennedy to one of the West Lynn restaurant?s booths.Ward 5 residents voted 831-647 to elect Chakoutis their councilor last Tuesday night. She is the first woman elected to the council since 2007, but the 47-year-old Pine Hill native has no plans to quit her day job.?I?ve worked here for five years as manager, but I still wait tables. I enjoy it – I enjoy talking to people,” she said.Jim and Barbara Giguere eat at Old Tyme every Wednesday and even call Chakoutis if they are not going to make it for lunch. Chakoutis? city election victory in her first political campaign did not surprise the couple.?She?s well-liked, friendly and outgoing. I say, ?Good for her,?” said Jim Giguere Sr.Chakoutis decided in March to run for council after talking the idea over with husband, Nick, and children, Michael and Lauren, and her friends.?I said, ?I?ll try it, what do I have to lose??” she said.She juggled 10- and 12-hour shifts at Old Tyme with campaigning, spending four days a week walking Ward 5?s Pine Hill and downtown neighborhood in search of votes. Long hours and occasional negativity did not slow her down.?You get discouraged but you tell yourself, ?Don?t listen to what other people say,?” Chakoutis said.She grew up on Thistle Street and played as a girl in Gallagher Playground with siblings Ernie and Susan. She balanced raising her children with working catering and bartending jobs, and got involved in the Pine Hill Civic Association, Babe Ruth and Little League.She plans to stay on at Old Tyme, where owner Robert Stilian refers to Chakoutis as “my right hand.”?Without her, I wouldn?t be able to run the restaurant in the day,” he said.In the week since the election, Chakoutis has worked her way around City Hall and met the people who make city government work. She won?t take office until her January swearing-in, but her vote is already being sought in the battle between Councilors Daniel Cahill and William Trahant Jr. for the council presidency.Chakoutis said she hasn?t made up her mind on her choice for the top council job.Jim Giguere said councilors are in for a surprise once his longtime friend takes her seat in the Council Chamber.?She?ll let them know what?s going on. We need a woman for a different perspective,” he said.Evelyn Kennedy knows Chakoutis will adapt quickly to doing the people?s business.?She can put her hand to anything,” she said.Chakoutis said she plans to treat her Ward 5 constituents and people appearing before the council the same way she treats Old Tyme?s customers.?I?m an average person like everyone else,” she said. “If I can help anybody, it?s an accomplishment.”