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In Memoriam: Dolores Press

We note with sorrow the passing of Santa Monica progressive stalwart Dolores Press, former SMDC President, who served on the Board of this Club until 2014 and was a major figure in the Club’s leadership for decades.

A member of the City Council from 1981-1984 and the first full-term chair of the SM Rent Control Board, she was a champion for women’s rights, renters’ rights, and a living wage for hotel workers. She established the City’s Commission on the Status of Women and the SM Farmers Market. Press’s 1981 Council victory gave the City its first ever pro-renter majority, ushering in the modern era of Santa Monica progressivism.

In her role as a Santa Monica Democrat, she chaired our assembly district delegation to LACDP, first appointed by Tom Hayden and then elected in her own right, where she served on the Labor Caucus and Endorsement Committee and was twice named Democrat of the Year.

“My greatest joy of old age is my seven grandchildren. Every cliche that is said about grandchildren is true!”

(Pictured L to R: Rev. Jim Conn, Dolores Press, Denny Zane, Ken Edwards, celebrating their 1981 City Council victory.)