With politics a constant topic of discussion around his family dinner table growing up, Dave Cieslewicz became interested in politics at an early age.
Decades later, as Cieslewicz attempts to win a second term as mayor of Madison, the interest in politics that started around his West Allis, Wis., dinner table has clearly come to fruition.
A 1981 alum of the University of Wisconsin’s political science program, Cieslewicz is growing concerned about the safety of Madison’s university students.
“We are going to target some resources at the campus area,” he said. “I’ve added 10 new police officers in my 2007 budget and … I set aside $100,000 for public safety programs in downtown Madison.”
And, after holding such positions as Director of Government Relations for The Nature Conservancy and executive director of the non-profit advocacy group 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, Cieslewicz has demonstrated his interest in the environment.
As mayor, he has pushed the city to develop a trolley system, which he hopes will improve air quality in Madison by encouraging citizens to take public transportation while downtown. He also believes a new streetcar system would stimulate economic development in the city.
Unlike any of his opponents, Cieslewicz has experience being a city mayor and performing the responsibilities.
“I’ve done the job for four years, so I’ve got a good sense of what the priorities need to be, how to manage city government, how to put together a budget, and I think I’m pretty good at working with people,” he said.
On April 4, Cieslewicz will find out if Madison voters agree with him.
Since being born in a one-room log cabin in northern Wisconsin, Will Sandstrom believes he has overcome the kind of adversity that would make him an excellent mayor.
He was inspired to run for mayor of Madison after he became concerned about the negative direction he felt the city’s government was taking.
“These people that are running for mayor and the current mayor, they don’t have any wisdom,” he said. “I want a mayor who has wisdom gained from adversity and experience.”
And Sandstrom has had a variety of different life experiences. Despite his humble beginnings, Sandstrom went on to study at the University of Minnesota and University of Wisconsin, ultimately receiving his bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College in 1957 and his Ph.D. in chemistry from Indiana University in Bloomington in 1969.
While writing his Ph.D. in the 1960s, he was teaching in a Chicago ghetto where he was almost killed in a fire. After receiving his doctoral degree, he traveled to Finland and Russia to try to contact relatives. While in Finland, he studied at the University of Helsinki.
“I’m an active character,” Sandstrom said with a chuckle, adding that during this time in the 1960s he also ran for U.S. Congress and governor of Wisconsin.
Sandstrom has also expressed concern about the rising cost of tuition for UW students. He said that, as a Ph.D., he would be better skilled at communicating with the “higher-ups” in the university because they would view him as their equal.
“Somebody’s got to talk to these people,” he said. “They live in their ivory towers.”
Sandstrom’s children have also attended UW. After his daughter was attacked in the campus area, Sandstrom said he realized just how much the safety in Madison was decreasing.
As mayor, Sandstrom said he would work to make the city safer, especially for university students.
Ray Allen was inspired to become involved in politics after watching the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Growing up black in Milwaukee, one of the United State’s most segregated cities, Allen said watching activists fight for human rights greatly influenced him.
And if elected this April, Allen will become Madison’s first black mayor.
“I’m running because I’m deeply concerned about the direction of the city,” Allen said. “The current mayor’s misplaced priorities are really affecting our quality of life.”
Allen is a 1974 graduate of the University of Wisconsin’s School of Journalism. He is currently a member of the Journalism School Board of Visitors, and he owns the Madison Times, a newspaper that focuses on issues important to the city’s black community.
Like many people, Allen is concerned about the increasing instances of violence in the downtown area.
“When I was a student here, we didn’t have to go to seminars on how not to get mugged,” he said. If elected, Allen said he would be a strong supporter of putting more police officers downtown.
Allen believes that the way to make the campus environment safer is to address Madison’s poverty problem. He said there is a link between poverty and crime, and lessening the amount of poverty in the city would help lessen the amount of crime.
Allen is a member of the 100 Black Men of Madison, on the board of the Madison Repertory Theater and on the board of the Madison chapter of the Red Cross. Allen has also served on the Madison School Board three times and as chair of the Madison Area Technical College Board.
“Education has been a big focus of my life,” he said, adding that his various experiences around Madison have given him a unique perspective on the city and its people.
“There’s a point where you become concerned, and you know you need to be engaged,” Allen said.
Peter Munoz never intended to run for Madison mayor. In fact, he never intended to run for any government office.
But Munoz is now running to get his name on the April ballot because, he said, “somebody’s got to do it.”
“I’ve never wanted to be involved in politics,” he said. “I sort of deplore the way politics function, but it’s one of those things that, along with making sausage, you don’t want to be involved with, but somebody’s got to do it.”
Munoz, a professional photographer who studied at the New York Institute of Photography, said he decided to run for mayor out of concern for Madison.
Munoz feels the city’s current direction could lead it to ruin, saying he is particularly concerned with the current mayor’s tendency to overspend.
If elected, Munoz said he would focus on maintaining a fiscal responsibility in the city.
“I do believe in investing — I don’t believe in spending,” he said.
The Cuban-born Munoz currently serves as executive director of the nonprofit organization Centro Hispano, a position he has held since 2003. He has taken a leave of absence while he campaigns for mayor.
In addition to his background in photography, Munoz is a 1993 graduate of the University of Wisconsin. He holds a degree in business administration and human resources and transportation in public utilities.
His time as a UW student has led him to be particularly concerned about the recent wave of assaults in the campus area. He is concerned about the communication and working relationship between the Madison Police Department and the university police.
“My sense is that there are some internal mechanisms that need to be improved,” Munoz said.
Munoz also served as an aide for Mayor Sue Bauman, who was elected in 1997 and served as mayor of Madison for six years. He worked on such issues as the public works, streets division, water utility and affordable housing.