From the Archives: Dolores Gunn gets a parking ticket

During the early 1940s, Dolores Gunn ran for Los Angeles City Council and mayor. She also had several run-ins with the Los Angeles Police Department vice squad.

In 1943, to protest treatment by Los Angeles City officials, Gunn showed up outside City Hall in her placarded automobile. Police ticketed the vehicle.

A story in the June 10, 1943, Los Angeles Times explained:

Dolores Gunn, who has not been very happy since the police closed up her escort bureau, is about to lose "60 years of her life."

In fact, she said in her written statement yesterday that she had already lost 30 years while serving a recent jail sentence for illegal operation of an escort bureau service.

The additional 30 years seemed probable yesterday when police issued a formal invitation for her to serve another jail term.

It all came out when Dolores went to the Spring St. entrance of the City Hall in a heavily placarded automobile to distribute printed denunciations of Mayor Bowron and Police Commissioner Van Griffith, demanding a recall of the former and a general improvement in the resiliency of jail cots on the part of the latter.

But the police say Dolores violated the parking time restrictions, so they issued her another ticket good for four or five days more in jail.

In the 1945 mayoral election, Fletcher Bowron won re-election with 53% of the vote. Gunn came in eighth with 1,273 votes, a percentage of 0.47.

In 1950, Gunn again was busted by the vice squad. She arrived for trial sporting a big black hat, photo above, and was convicted. A June 20, 1951, Los Angeles Times story reported the conviction was overturned. This was also the last mention of Gunn in the Los Angeles Times.

This post was originally published on March 27, 2015.