Volunteer Shasta County Community Advocate, Leslie Sawyer is Making a Difference

December 19, 2025

Passionate and dedicated to her advocacy work, Leslie Sawyer has been reporting on news in Shasta County to keep the public informed of local governmental issues through her podcasts which air on social media and Mountain Top Media.  Leslie spends countless hours at the Board of Supervisors’ meetings, school board meetings, and Redding City Council meetings, then does informative podcasts (of about 30 minutes in length) to let the public know what issues were discussed and/or voted on by the elected officials.  One shorter podcast on October 13, 2025, about several bills that Governor Newsom was signing that were eroding parental rights went viral on Social Media, receiving over 750,000 views.

Leslie, age 37, is a divorced mother of three and got involved in local politics when the COVID-19 mandates began.  When masks were forced on children at public schools, when children were forced to stay at home and use distance learning tools such as Zoom, she got involved with other like-minded community members such as Authur and Katie Gorman, and other parents and helped organize a walk-out protest that kept children at home for a day in protest that occurred on October 18, 2021.  Nearly 50% of students across Shasta County districts were absent that day.  Related rallies, such as one near the Sundial Bridge in Redding, drew hundreds on the same day.

When the County Office of Education hosted a large, closed to the public, meeting of the presidents and superintendents of schools in the area, she organized a shoe protest on November 29, 2021, that was held outside the Shasta County Office of Education in Redding. Dozens of protesters gathered to oppose potential vaccine mandates in schools, emphasizing parental rights and medical freedom. As a symbolic gesture, they placed shoes outside the office entrance to represent the students, teachers, and staff who might be "lost" (e.g., through job losses or withdrawals) if such mandates were implemented.

Leslie has attended several protests in Sacramento advocating for parental rights.  She credits these protests and the protests in Shasta County with being instrumental in stopping COVID-19 vaccine mandates for children that would have come out of the legislature in Sacramento.   When she became aware of the “Moms for Liberty” nationwide organization which had similar goals, she decided to form the Shasta County Chapter along with several other people.  She is currently the California State Legislative Chair and is dedicated to the stated mission of the organization which is the survival of America by unifying, educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government.  Moms for Liberty has 320+ chapters nationwide and over 130,000 members.

More recently, Leslie was involved in helping to run the "Take Your Power Back California Governor Showdown”, a candidate forum for conservative/Republican contenders in the 2026 California gubernatorial race, held on November 8, 2025, in San Marcos, CA.  Because she was helping behind the scenes and interacted with the candidates and their staff, she has a better perspective on the public versus private personas of the candidates.  This event brought together conservative candidates to discuss their visions for reclaiming California's "faith, freedom, and future." It was organized by the Take Your Power Back team and hosted by Kim Yeater (from the Take Your Power Back Show), with co-moderators including independent journalist Lara Logan and election integrity expert Dr. Douglas G. Frank.  Gubernatorial Candidate Sheriff Chad Bianco of Riverside County chose not to attend the forum, even though it was being held in a county that is adjacent to Riverside County.  Leslie was impressed by Lewis Herms, who is running as an independent conservative in California’s “jungle primary” election.  What stood out about him in Leslie’s view was his breadth of knowledge about issues that California is facing.

Jon Knight, owner of Mountain Top Media, met Leslie during the successful effort to recall Shasta County Supervisor Leonard Moty, and since they have a common goal of informing the community on local issues, she has been producing her podcasts in his studio and uploading them onto the platform.  Mountain Top Media also hosts several other series or shows: “Red White and Blueprint” was a documentary series that chronicled the recall efforts, and has since become “The Patriot State of Mind”; “Sovereign Minds”; “Jefferson State of Mine”; and “We the Parents”, Leslie’s podcast title.  Leslie stated that “Mountain Top Media is a movement.  Everyone there is volunteer and the platform has only two local sponsors that help keep the lights on, so Mountain Top Media is truly an independent media source.  Jon Knight is footing most of the expenses himself and just wants to keep the public informed.” 

Leslie says she has worked to build relationships with elected officials, including those with differing political views by reporting on the work they have done in a fair and accurate manner.  Her goal is to strive for mutual respect. She says Shasta County is an amazing place that has been her home since she turned 18 and she looks forward to continuing her work here.

Leslie is a testament to how much just one person can accomplish if they have the right mindset and passion.  Motherhood has made her into a fierce “mama bear” who is looking out for the well-being of her children and Shasta County. 

If you are interested in contacting Leslie, you can reach her by email at:  Leslie@mountaintopmedia.com

(The Mountain Top Media site has been down the last two days due to a hacker and they are working on getting the site back up as of December 20, 2025.)

This article has been updated with some minor corrections on December 20, 2025.