Will Sandstrom is 72 years old. He was born in Orr, Minn., in 1934. He obtained degrees from St. Olaf College, the University of North Dakota and Indiana University. He unsuccessfully ran for Congress in the '60s and now spends most of his time writing books and being an activist in Madison.
The Daily Cardinal: How is Madison going to continue its progression toward the future if you are elected mayor?
Will Sandstrom: We need to stop the crime, and we need to work on the bus systems, and we have to install the progressive tax system that was in our government in the '40s and '50s. We don't need a mayor that's pro-construction.
DC: What are your plans to stop the high level of crime in the city?
WS: We are going to have more policemen at night time. I will hire 30 new policemen and detectives. We have got to make this downtown area safe for the kids—no more of this organized crime.
DC: How would you plan to handle Halloween on State Street?
WS: That one there I'm not going to take a position...but I will say this: The university is one for education, not alcoholism. I mean, I lost a grandson for crying out loud and my dad was a moonshiner, so I know what alcohol does. Anyway, I thought [Halloween] was rather successful. Don't get me wrong, I like Mayor Dave, but he does not got any wisdom. There are things I know that those other candidates don't...I'm your man.
DC: What other city in the United States does Madison compare to?
WS: That's a tough one, it's a great town and great city ... you can't beat it.
DC: What are some different things you would do to shorten the gap between rich and poor?
WS: I'd have the Franklin Roosevelt progressive tax system. Get tax money from the federal government and get it to trickle down to local governments. With that money we can fix problems, but we must not let the very wealthy escape without paying taxes because a lot of these people have post office boxes in the Canary Islands. They don't pay any taxes. They're living out of those boxes and some of us are living in cardboard boxes.
DC: Madison is thought of as a diverse city. How do you plan to handle diversity?
WS: We don't want to have Madison become a sardine can. Why can't we have two fences on [the U.S.] southern borders? I want to be humane, but we can't handle 500 million Chinese.
DC: What are your three biggest assets?
WS: Wisdom, from my experience, and then my ability to converse and not getting mad at anyone. You don't hear any of these politicians talking about bringing back this progressive tax system, and I know how we can do this. And the third thing is, we can't have this crime.
DC: What are you planning on doing once your time in politics is over?
WS: Continue on with my blog and create a homepage...write a fourth book and keep my dog from being attacked by a bald eagle; my neighbor lost a cat.
DC: What is your favorite album?
WS: Well I don't really know that, but I can tell you my favorite movie—Bambi.
