With the mayoral primary election a week away, five mayoral candidates signed a clean-campaign code of conduct Monday night.

Orchestrated by the League of Women Voters of Dane County, the pledge explains that the signed candidates will disclose all contributions made to campaigns, take responsibility for the actions of their staff and refrain from attacking fellow candidates.

Ryan Mulcahy, Mayor Sue Bauman’s representative at the forum, said the controversy surrounding Bauman and former mayor Paul Soglin is “strictly a hyperbole of the press.”

Will Sandstrom, the only candidate to decline to sign the document, circulated a revised version of the pledge during Tuesday night’s forum in the Humanities building. In Sandstrom’s version a fictitious organization entitled the League of Voters for Humaneness replaces the sponsor of the original pledge and calls for the “principle of equality by and for all candidates running for office.”

The document primarily addresses Sandstrom’s campaign-funding concerns and asks that each candidate be allotted equal portions of money in order to ensure equal opportunity to present in the media. He requested that candidates with more funds donate from their “personal wealth, and/or funds raised on their behalf” so that each candidate has equal purchasing power.

During the forum Sandstrom said, “Come on, Soggy Sog, you’ve got the money, honey.”

Following the forum, Sandstrom said he objected to the pledge because while the pledge employed the word “fairness,” it did not fully embody the word to his understanding. Sandstrom also mentioned Davy Mayer’s hesitance to sign the pledge.

When questioned, Mayer said he hesitated because the original document called for disclosure of all campaign contributions, while under current law Mayer would not have to reveal contributions because he is not raising more than $1,000. The revised document he signed included a clause setting public contributions in line with current campaign-finance laws.

In response to Sandstrom’s document, Soglin said, “There is something to be said for those candidates rallying for support on their own.”

Soglin, Mayer and Bauman’s representatives expressed their satisfaction with the final pledge, which was signed late Monday night and released early Tuesday.

Soglin stated that he sees it as “a reminder to the candidates” to stick to the issues and share their differences in a considerate manner.