North Cook News

Real estate developer Mark Falanga is hosting an Oct. 14 fundraiser at his Wilmette home for Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

In an email invitation obtained by North Cook News, Falanga wrote, "as proud Chicagoans, it is important to us that we keep Chicago moving forward and we believe Mayor Lightfoot is the right person for this incredibly difficult job."

"She has met these challenges head on," he said.

Falanga said fundraiser will feature "our friend and WGN Radio Host Bob Sirott, who will be 'interviewing' Mayor Lightfoot during the program." 

"Chair"-level tickets to the event will be $5,000. 

Masks will be required at the event, which will "strictly" adhere to "all Chicago Department of Public Health COVID-19 Guidelines," per the invitation.

Falanga, a protege and "confidant" of fellow Wilmette resident Christopher Kennedy who worked for the Kennedy family-owned Merchandise Mart for 19 years, currently owns several multi-family apartment buildings in Logan Square, Lightfoot's home neighborhood.

In 2004, Falanga wrote a book chronicling his move from Lincoln Park to Wilmette called "The Suburban You."

He described himself at the time as "an urban dweller, at the top of his game professionally, with a gorgeous executive wife and a hip coterie in the coolest neighborhood in the city" who, in moving to Wilmette, entered "the twilight zone... where public schools are good, many wives stay home, and children ride their tricycles in the driveway."

"It was a shock to the system, like moving to a different planet," Falanga told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "We were certain that we were moving to some cultural wasteland."

Falanga, 62, grew up in the upper-class Long Island suburb of Kings Park.

His wife, Diane, is a Wilmette native who currently works as an interior designer.

In July, Lightfoot traveled to Hyannis Port, Massachusetts to officiate the wedding of Christopher Kennedy's son, Chris.