Ahead of the June primary election, the Southern California News Group compiled a list of questions to pose to the candidates who wish to represent you. You can find the full questionnaire below. Questionnaires may have been edited for spelling, grammar, length and, in some instances, to remove hate speech and offensive language.
Name: Steve Manos
Current job title: Mayor/Self-employed, Commercial Real Estate Consulting
Age: 50
Political party affiliation: Republican
Incumbent: No
Other political positions held: Mayor/City Council Member, City of Lake Elsinore, Chair/Commissioner Riverside County Airport Land Use Committee, Commissioner Riverside County Habitat Conservation Authority, Regional Council Member Southern California Association of Governments
City where you reside: Lake Elsinore
Campaign website or social media: ManosforCongress.com
From voter ID to war powers and from immigration to tariffs, Congress has tackled many issues over the past year. What do you, though, see as the top three issues impacting Californians, and what specifically could you do as a lawmaker to address these issues? (Please answer in 250 words or less, and keep your response to future proposals.)
The working families of CA’s 39th District are being squeezed by costs, which is impacting quality of life. This is a problem that requires a multifaceted approach, for instance, reducing regulations on the banking and housing industry while expanding FHA loan programs or subsidizing domestic food and manufacturing.
As a father of three girls, I’m genuinely concerned about the impacts of HR15, a bill authored by my opponent that would force biological men into women’s sports, bathrooms, and locker rooms. This bill would dismantle women’s rights, making men and women indistinguishable, except by self-identification. I have great respect for all people, but when rights clash, and legitimate public safety concerns are raised, we should not mandate that those risks be borne by others, especially children.
Election integrity is the fight of our generation. We have the most flexible — and least secure — election process of any country in the world. Ballots should have a chain of custody from printing to the voter, and back to the election official. Citizenship should be verified. ID should be presented when voting. To say that there’s no evidence of voting fraud when all methods that might reasonably help deter or detect that fraud have been prohibited by the state, there just l must be intervention at the federal level.
Speaking of voter ID, the president has implored Congress to approve legislation that would require people to show proof of citizenship in order to vote. What role do you believe the federal government plays in telling states how to conduct their own elections, as dictated by the U.S. Constitution? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
The federal government has full authority to dictate reasonable safeguards for federal elections.
The SAFE Act should have zero impact on the outcomes of elections, unless it deters or detects illicit activity that was previously difficult to find in a secret ballot effort. The excuse that minorities and women somehow have restricted access to basic identifying documentation is disrespectful to women and minorities.
States may move their elections to off-calendar years to conduct them to their liking, but that might be an interesting tell.
What, in your opinion, should the federal government focus on when it comes to immigration policy? For example, do you place a priority on border security, visas for high-skilled workers, refuge for asylum seekers, etc., and why? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
Without border security that is consistent through changing administrations, there can be little done to improve the legal immigration process. We could devote funding toward processing applications — using AI to quickly screen and flag problematic applications for further review or staffing more judges to hear cases — but, without a guarantee that some future administration might allow unfettered illegal immigration again, it might be difficult to find bipartisan public support for reform.
Removing the rewards for individuals involved with coming over illegally or overstaying visas, and eliminating the political upside of encouraging illegal immigration, like excluding undocumented immigrants from congressional seat allocations and federal funding, might remove the political incentives for ignoring or outright promoting illegal immigration in the future.
Asylum claims should be limited to those being persecuted for their race, religion, or political affiliation. Asylum claims ideally should be submitted from an applicant’s home country.
The H1B visa program has exploited foreign workers to the detriment of US workers. If the program is going to continue to exist, then there needs to be better oversight.
It’s been over a year since Gov. Gavin Newsom asked the federal government for supplemental disaster aid to help Southern California communities rebuild after the devastating Palisades and Eaton wildfires, but neither President Donald Trump nor Congress has acted. What would you do to push for the funding, besides writing letters to the Trump administration or the leaders of Congress? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
I don’t trust the California state government to properly convey funding to anyone, especially considering the current budget deficit and the treatment of advocates on behalf of wildfire victims. Better to create a direct funding mechanism to the residents impacted. I’m not certain what role that FEMA has played already, but that agency or even the Treasury Department would seem to be best suited to allocate funds or loans to wildfire victims.
Do you support a ban or restriction on congressional lawmakers and their families from buying or selling individual stocks? Why or why not? And what would you propose to ensure lawmakers aren’t using their positions to engage in insider trading? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
I don’t support a blanket ban on congressional members trading individual stocks, but I support conflict of interest laws, similar to those imposed on California municipal elected officials, that relates to trading stocks after receiving unpublished decisions or information, with a focus on committee assignments. Members should recuse themselves from voting on legislation related to stocks held.
Do you support stronger regulations on pollution and carbon emissions? If so, how would you ensure those regulations aren’t overly burdensome on small businesses or lower-income families? And if not, how do you propose lawmakers protect the environment and curtail the impacts of climate change? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
I’m in favor of laws that prevent pollution and promote environmental preservation. That said, we’re at a point where environmental regulations aren’t just inconvenient; many work against other priorities that citizens find important. Housing shortages, food cost increases, expensive and inadequate traffic infrastructure, high-speed rail… problems related to these issues and more are in many ways related to the myriad of environmental regulations — many made with no accountability, overarching plan, or follow-up on whether they are actually effective. There has been little to no measure of the actual per capita cost-to-benefit ratio.
While everyone is happy to support effective, efficient ways of protecting the environment while supporting humanity, nobody wants a rubber-stamp politician for any wild idea without quantifiable benefits.
President Donald Trump has significantly increased spending for the U.S. Department of Defense. Would you, as a member of Congress, approve additional dollars for the military if the president were to ask for more funding? How would you ensure that any military spending does not end up putting the American people or national security in harm’s way? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
As a congressional representative, I would consider any defense funding request on a case-by-case basis. We would need to measure the amount of money requested, the intended use, and consider the sentiments of the people in the 39th District.
Under what specific circumstances do you believe the U.S. should engage in a war? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
The legitimate pretense for engaging in full-scale war is responding to attacks or eliminating imminent threats to US interests and/or our allies.
Do you believe a president should seek congressional approval before engaging in military action overseas? Why, or why not? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
No. The Executive Branch has historically been afforded flexibility to conduct limited military operations on many occasions throughout history. Often, these decisions must be made quickly and unilaterally for the operation to meet all objectives with limited collateral damage.
Imagine Kennedy needing congressional approval to respond to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Or Obama waiting on approval to send troops into Pakistan to eliminate Bin Laden.
Congress has the ability to rein in military action. Ground troops would probably be the line of demarcation on the issue, though time, cost, and objectives would be others.
Congress, in theory, is supposed to serve as a check on the president through budgetary, legislative and oversight powers. Do you believe Congress has fulfilled that obligation during the past two administrations, with one being a Democrat and the other a Republican? Why or why not? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
It’s gone both ways – Congress has both overstepped its authority to check the president and not acted when it probably should.
There has been a significant expansion of presidential powers exercised through executive orders since Obama established the DACA program (through executive order), which was validated through court challenges. Since then, administrations by both parties have used the power of the pen to act in increasingly authoritative ways with very little pushback from Congress. I would argue that state attorneys general have been more effective in reigning in presidential authority during Trump’s tenure than the current Congress has been, but that might be more about political willpower than ability.
Alternatively, the now-debunked Russia-gate impeachment was clearly an effort to sideline a sitting president and represented gross abuse of congressional oversight, in my opinion.
There are issues, like tariffs enacted by the president, that should go through congressional affirmation within six months or expire retroactively.
I’m not a fan of executive orders. They should be relegated to declaring holidays and naming things… not crafting policy without legislation. Not only can they signal an abuse of power, but they are also brittle in that the next president can simply erase past executive orders with a stroke of a pen. Not a stable way to conduct business.
Governments around the world are increasingly considering an age ban or other restrictions on social media use among young people, citing mental health and other concerns. Should Congress adopt such restrictions? If so, what specific restrictions do you propose? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
Social media should probably be restricted for those under 18 years old. There are studies demonstrating that phone and social media usage is as addictive as gambling, which is also age restricted in the US.
Statistically, violent crime rates in California are on the decline, yet residents still don’t feel safe or at ease in their communities. How do you see your role in Congress in addressing the underlying issues that make Californians feel unsafe in their own neighborhoods? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
There’s always some lag between the time something changes and when those changes are recognized by the public.
As a congressional representative, part of your job is to report out to the people what’s happening in your district, state, and region. As a city representative, social media has been a great way to communicate with my constituents. I
t’s hard to go to the grocery store or a Storm game without encountering a person who has a question or just wants to say “thanks.” It’s common for me to address concerns on Facebook group pages, dispelling concerns or correcting misstatements. I manage all my social media accounts myself and do my best to push out content about what’s happening in the world of government… I would continue to do so as a Congressman.
There are times when statistics don’t represent reality. Crimes are often underreported in immigrant communities that don’t trust law enforcement… the 39th District is over 60% Hispanic.
Providing accurate information from a position of trust often helps change public sentiment.
There are term limits to serve in the California Legislature, but none to serve in Congress. Would you advocate for term limits for House members? Why or why not? If you support term limits, how many years maximum should a House member be allowed to serve? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
I believe that term limits are important in seats of consolidated power – the president, governors, mayors. Legislative bodies require building consensus among a majority or supermajority. For that primary reason, I do not believe that term limits are proper for members of legislative bodies.
Legislative body members are, in part, responsible for overseeing the bureaucracy. Ideally, the public elects leaders who will understand how the system works. Legislators may rely heavily on staff, but eventually learn how the system works, creating the relationships needed to build working coalitions. Elected leaders hold staff accountable. Voters hold the elected leaders accountable.
With term limits, legislators change regardless of how well they perform, but the staff (especially effective staffers) often move to each new elected leader.
What you create is a system where the real power no longer resides with the elected official and the voters no longer hold the power to change directions.
Term limits are attractive because they do the job that we’re supposed to do as voters… eliminate bad representation.
What’s a hidden talent you have? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
Ha! After 13 years living in a fishbowl, I think all my talents are out in the open.
Let’s see… I am good at building, fabricating, and reverse engineering things.
For instance, I recently built a Mongolian yurt from scratch, using material and tools that I bought from Home Depot… picked up the canvas from an online supplier and a sewing machine from Walmart. People are normally (pleasantly) surprised to see the finished product.
My current project is turning a 1980s English double-decker bus into a luxury RV.