William F. Farley says to count him out of any politics except the kind that go naturally with business. The colorful and sometimes controversial chairman of Farley/Northwest Industries Inc. says minding the store takes all his time these days.
”I do have an interest in public service, but I have no plans to run for public office,” the 43-year-old chairman told the Executives` Club Friday.
Later he elaborated, saying his interest in politics has been exaggerated. Last year, Farley, a Republican, reportedly was weighing the odds of unseating Democratic U.S. Sen. Alan J. Dixon. ”I feel it really got out of focus,” he said. ”People came to me and asked me to consider running for office.” But, considering his acquisition of Northwest Industries and subsequent sale of parts of that company, ”I`m pretty busy,” he deadpanned. ”I realize that`s (Farley/Northwest) my focus, that`s where I have to be. I really have totally backed away from the political arena.”
He hasn`t decided who, if anybody, to back in the GOP Senate primary or whether he will play a role in the re-election campaign of Gov. James R. Thompson.
But though he can`t fit politics into his schedule, Farley is adamant that he always will have time for spring training with his beloved Chicago White Sox. After a business trip to China and India in late February, he`s planning his usual trip to Sarasota, Fla., to catch part of Sox training. Farley is a minority owner of the team.
”I put on a uniform and I exercise every day with them,” said Farley, described as ”athletic” and ”a fitness nut.” ”It`s a nice time to really relax and sort of get away from business.”
A business decision that outsiders speculate has caused him some hand-wringing is locking in interest rates in the 15-percent neighborhood for about $500 million in junk bonds sold to finance the Northwest Industries acquisition. Those rates look pretty high, especially when Farley can`t cash them in on current lower rates.
He shrugged it off. ”It`s just expensive; it`s not a real problem. My philosophy is you just don`t cry over anything. Sure, if I could rewrite them, I`d write them at 13 percent, not 15 percent. Next time, if I do another deal, I think the buyers will remember that they got a very good deal and maybe I`ll get a better deal.”
But he insists that the ”next time” is not on the drawing board. ”I think it`s a time to be selling, not buying.”
TOO GOOD TO PASS UP
Mike Woelffer, head of Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Development, raised a few eyebrows with his announcement Friday that he`s leaving to direct economic development for the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce.
Noting that Woelffer has been one of the highest-profile members of Thompson`s administration, critics say quitting as a re-election campaign gets underway looks suspiciously like jumping ship. Woelffer responded: ”They haven`t even held the primary yet!” Besides, he said, the job was too good to pass up. ”It`s an opportunity that`s extremely attractive from a financial standpoint for me and gives me the ability to do other things on the side, and that`s an inherent conflict in the public sector.”
NEW MEDILL DEGREES
We sometimes think fondly of those eager pups of the late 1970s who watched ”All the President`s Men” and rushed out to enroll in journalism school, ready to expose greed and corruption.
Now the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where many of those students discovered that uncovering a job was a lot harder than uncovering a story, is marketing to a new generation.
The school has unveiled two first-of-their kind master`s degree programs: Direct marketing and corporate public relations.
Henry A. Johnson, former president and chief executive officer of Spiegel Inc., was named acting director of the direct marketing program.
Raymond P. Ewing, former head of corporate communciations at Allstate Insurance Cos., is acting director of the corporate PR program.
Among those who helped devise the new PR curriculum were Harold Burson, chairman of Burson-Marsteller; James Murphy, senior vice president for communications and public affairs at Merrill Lynch; James Tolley, vice president for public affairs at Chrysler Corp.; Sue Bohle, executive vice president of Ketchum/Bohle Public Relations; and, last but certainly not least, Sam H. Saran, assistant to the chairman and director of corporate communications at Inland Steel Co.
