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Newport shocked over Noyes revelations

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- City leaders and residents alike buzzed Thursday -- some

with anger, some with compassion -- at the news that their mayor had been

sought on criminal kidnapping charges after he snatched his children from

the legal custody of his ex-wife in 1976 and hid them from her for nearly

a decade.

“I think he’s going to have to resign, myself,” said Planning

Commissioner Ed Selich after reading a news account of John Noyes’ nine

years on the run during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

“I think this matter involves a personal situation that occurred in

John’s life many years ago. I believe it serves no public purpose,” said

council colleague Dennis O’Neil, who has described himself as a “big John

Noyes fan.”

Noyes on Thursday stood by an earlier statement that his personal life is

private.

“You can’t tie this to anything I’ve done now,” he said. “I’ll deal with

real city issues. I’m not going to deal with personal issues.”

According to interviews and court records detailed in Thursday’s Los

Angeles Times, Noyes was wanted on outstanding criminal kidnapping

charges in the state of Idaho from 1976 until 1985. Those charges were

formally dismissed by authorities in 1986, a year after his ex-wife, Ann

Heltsley, finally tracked them down in an exclusive island community off

the Washington state coast.

In 1987, Heltsley sued Noyes in federal court, claiming that he had

destroyed her relationship with her children. He was found liable by a

federal judge and Heltsley received $665,000 in settlements from Noyes

and his current wife, as well as his father and stepmother, who were also

named in the lawsuit.

Noyes said in court depositions taken for the civil lawsuit that he

obtained a second Social Security card, driver’s license and bank account

issued under the name North for at least three years. In those

depositions, Noyes also said he had filed his taxes as John North in 1975

and 1976 and did not file again until 1984. He said he later made

reparations for some of those years.

In an earlier written statement, Noyes said he had no choice but “to

pursue an aggressive course of action in order to protect [his]

children.”

But his ex-wife and her neighbors said the children were happy and in

excellent health in 1976 when Noyes took them away. His former wife, who

is now a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer, said she spent nine

years fruitlessly searching for her daughters.

The news of Noyes’ background consumed the mornings of many Newport Beach

leaders. A few pondered the legitimacy of the story while others felt

betrayed that he had kept the secret to himself.

Noyes on Tuesday announced that he would not run for reelection this

fall. Some city leaders, however, wonder how he will be able to continue

serving the community.

“I mean, how is he going to be able to effectively be mayor or a city

councilman?” Selich asked.

Both fellow city officials and former council members said Noyes should

have revealed his past before taking public office.

“Yes, he should have,” said former mayor Clarence Turner. “I don’t know

him that well, but I suspect he probably wishes he had.”

Balboa Island community leader Steve Bromberg, who organized Noyes’ 1996

council campaign, said he was shocked by the news. He said he had asked

Noyes during the campaign about any possible scandal in his past.

“[Noyes] made it very clear there was nothing,” said Bromberg, who has

since had a falling out with Noyes. “It’s unfortunate. It’s embarrassing

for Balboa Island and Newport Beach.”

Former councilwoman Jean Watt, who endorsed Noyes during the 1996

election, was sympathetic but said “people who run for public office

should have a pretty pristine history.”

Councilman Tod Ridgeway agreed.

“If you’re an elected official and appointed judge, you are held to a

higher standard,” Ridgeway said.

A neighbor saw it somewhat differently.

“There’s no black and white in life,” said Melody DeWine, who conceded

that Noyes probably shouldn’t have run for public office. “He did

probably at the time what he had to do.”

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