Ron Kaye's first try at post-Daily News movement organizing drew more than 100 potential activists to the City Hall lawn on Monday. David Zahniser in the Times set the scene this way:

Monday's festival atmosphere was a little bit L.A.-palooza, with perennial City Hall gadfly Zuma Dogg in a sombrero, Councilman Dennis Zine carrying a huge shield with the letter Z on it and parent activist and writer Sandra Tsing Loh dressed somewhat like the Statue of Liberty as she criticized LAUSD bureaucracy.

"There are sort of little fires coming off my crown to show how angry I am," Loh told the crowd.

Steve Lopez also filed for the LAT blog and explained the small turnout: "Hey, it’s Los Angeles, it’s Monday, it’s summer, and it’s downtown." Rick Orlov called it "about 200" people in the Daily News. Controller Laura Chick came out of City Hall to say hello, Villaraigosa aide Matt Szabo monitored from a distance, and Doug Dowie — the former Hahn Administration insider convicted of wire fraud for inflating PR bills to the Department of Water and Power — stood near Kaye. The former Daily News editor says his Saving L.A. Project group will meet again on August 2 to plan the next step.