Carl R. Stevenson

Residence: Emmaus
E-mail address: carl@vote4carl.org
Campaign Web site: http://www.vote4carl.org
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/CarlStevenson#!/
Twitter account: @vote4carl
Age: 60
Education: Toronto HS, Toronto, Ohio 1967; Franciscan University of Steubenville, Steubenville, Ohio 1969
Profession and employer: Electronics Engineering Consultant, Farmer

1. Please list any community (non-elected) groups of which you are a member.

• The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Sr. Member
• The American Radio Relay League (amateur radio), Life Member
• The National Rifle Association, Life Member
• Gun Owners of America, Life Member
• Upper Milford Field and Stream Association
• Pennsylvania Self-Defense Rights League (PASDRL), Founder and Executive Director  http://www.pasdrl.org

2. Please describe your previous and current elected political office history.

I have not been elected to public political office before, but I have many years of experience in dealing with governments and government regulators from my career (as Sr. Manager, Standards and Regulatory Affairs), with Lucent and then Agere Systems. 

I served as the elected Chair of two working groups in IEEE Project 802, managing hundreds of engineers in the development of industry standards for devices such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. 

I served an elected term on the Board of Governors of the IEEE Standards Association, served as the Chair of the Bluetooth SIG Regulatory Committee, and served on the US Delegation to the World Radiocommunications Conference in Geneva, Switzerland in 2003. 

This leadership experience, working with diverse groups from around the world will bring valuable leadership, negotiating, and people skills to the township.

3. What motivates you to want to become a member of the Board of Supervisors?

I am NOT a politician. I am NOT a lawyer. I am a "regular guy." I am simply fed up with the growth of government (at all levels) and its ever-increasing interference in ever-expanding aspects of our lives and I believe that I need to be a part of the solution. 

The sole legitimate purpose of government is to protect our rights, not to seek an endless number of ways to restrict them because politicians and bureaucrats believe they can run our lives better than we can. That is an elitist attitude that has NO place in the minds of those who are supposed to SERVE us, NOT rule us.

It's time to put freedom, common sense, and financial responsibility back into township government and SERVE the people rather than RULE them, and that's what I intend to do if elected.

4. What do you see as the board’s roles and responsibilities?

The board’s role is to manage the affairs of the township, set policy, and enact (or repeal) ordinances.  These actions should be aimed at the LEAST amount of restriction on our personal freedoms and property rights necessary to protect public health and safety. 

If elected, I would conduct a thorough review of all township ordinances and policies and seek to repeal those that are unnecessary and overbearing (I know … It may take more than one term to accomplish that, since it will be a LARGE task.)

I would also work to cut the township’s expenses and assure that your tax dollars are not wasted, nor your taxes raised.

5. Why should someone choose you instead of those you are running against?

My commitment to small government, personal freedom,  and property rights, coupled with my experience and common sense.

6. What do you see as the biggest opportunity facing Upper Milford Township over the next several years?

We have a chance to change the culture of township government for the better.  We should preserve/restore the rural nature of the township that we all love, while encouraging small, local businesses and farms (rather than harassing them at every turn). 

7. What do you see as the biggest challenge facing Upper Milford Township over the next several years?

Overturning and reversing the “nanny state”, big government trends around us at all levels of government.

8. What do you see as the key issues in this election?

• Property Rights
• Personal Freedom
• Better Road Maintenance
• Less Wasteful Spending, and
• Less Government Interference in Your Life

9. What would you like to accomplish if elected to this position? Please be specific.

• Stop/reverse the growth of government and limit its exercise of power over our lives to its legitimate functions
• Substantially return property rights to the people
• Eliminate unnecessary, wasteful spending
• Encourage and enable our local small businesses
• Improve the maintenance of our township roads

(On road maintenance:  Why is Brookside Road STILL blocked to one-way between Buckeye Road and Route 100?  Why are there dangerous, deep ditches along many of our roads?  These are dangerous conditions that need not exist.  Will the township be liable if/when someone is killed or seriously injured due to this neglect of our roads?  Why did the township supervisors spend $1.5 million on their fancy quarters at the old school on Kings Highway when these problems remain unsolved?)

10. Costly repairs to the Yeakels Mill Road bridge and East Macungie Road are on the horizon. How can the township be better prepared for infrastructure improvements in the future?

Stop unnecessary, wasteful spending.  Encourage (get out of the way of) our local small businesses to enable them to grow the local economy, create jobs, and prevent deterioration of our tax base in this declining national economy.  Work to lower, not raise, taxes by better management of resources and staying within the limited role that government should play in our lives.