Annissa Essaibi-GeorgeHours after the votes in a losing effort were counted in November 2013, Annissa Essaibi George knew she’d be back on the ballot.

George, a Dorchester native through and through, made her political debut last year in a bid for one of the four at-large seats on the City Council. Banking on years of experience and connections as a local civic leader, she finished a more-than-respectable fifth, behind longtime incumbent Stephen Murphy.

In an interview at her home in Dorchester’s Polish Triangle on Monday, George, 40, talked about her decision to run again for an at-large seat as kids, cats, and her husband, local developer Doug George, clanged and clambered around her.

“People ask how I can deal with the campaign trail with all of this. I tell them it’s my chance to get some peace and quiet,” she said with a laugh.

Samir, 8, one of George’s triplets, was reclining against his mother as she sat on the couch, occasionally looking up as she spoke and then returning to playing games on his iPad mini. Another came over, and he climbed on the couch to sit next to his mother, interrupting her as she talked about charter schools.

Through all of the commotion, George toggled easily talking about her experiences as a teacher at East Boston High School, a mother of four boys, and owner of the Stitch House.

This time around, watchers will not see much difference between George’s candidacy and platforms in 2013 and this run. “I don’t know if there’s anything that I would do different. We just needed a lot more time. And announcing early has helped,” she said.

Although she will not officially announce her candidacy until Dec. 12 at a party at the Banshee, a hotspot for any politician looking to raise some cash, George’s impending candidacy has been far but secret. On Nov. 4, she shook hands at a popular polling location in Roslindale, handing out business cards and telling voters she was running for City Council.

She hopes her unique mix of experiences as a Boston native, mother, teacher, and business owner will give her a boost. “It’s important to make sure we have a variety of voices and have a table,” she said. “And I’ll have a few voices at the table in my own experiences. Not to diminish the roles of fathers on the council, but I do think it’s a very special role to have mothers,” she added. “You bring a different perspective on having and raising kids in the city.” At-Large Councillor Michelle Wu is due to have her first child this month.

Although George bills herself as the teacher candidate, in her campaign in 2013, she struggled at times to enumerate specific fixes for glaring issues in the Boston school system: ongoing scheduling and staffing issues at Madison Park and the transition at the Dearborn school. George declined to comment on the Dearborn, saying she is not familiar enough with the school’s specifics. She said she is confident that Madison Park’s scheduling issues will not happen next year, and will pursue bringing vocational and technical education to all of Boston’s public high schools.

“Although I was always focused on college, having exposure to different skills made me a better student,” she said. “I think all of our schools should offer technical education, especially in biotech and life sciences,” she said.

George graduated from Boston Technical High School, now the John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science, in 1991 before graduating from Boston University in 1996 with a political science degree. Her father was a long-time security guard at BU, which allowed her and her three younger siblings to attend for free.

George said she would not have voted for the council salary pay raise from $87,500 to $112,500, but would have looked for a smaller number. She has no stance yet on Boston’s Olympic bid. “How will it affect Boston and the residents of the city long after the Olympics are gone? Let’s see if the immediate benefits can turn into long-term gains for the city.”

Looking to her goals as a councillor, George said her emphasis is “not so much fixing things that are broken, because we live in a great city. We’re talking about parks, playgrounds, improving sidewalks, pedestrian safety, bike safety. Working around problems and issues that don’t turn into city ordinances or public hearings is being a successful city councillor. Most of the issues we deal with are constituent issues or constituent-based. And being able to get something done for one person is success.”

In her potential dealings at City Hall, George and Mayor Martin Walsh go way back. She met her husband while working on Walsh’s state representative campaign and she anticipates a cooperative relationship. “Being able to work with him will be helpful but it doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t be an independent voice for my issues,” she said.

One issue, at times at odds with Mayor Walsh’s thinking, is the at-times waived residency requirement that city employees live within city limits. On this, George stands firm: “I think we should be supporting Boston jobs for Boston people.”