Newport shocked over Noyes revelations
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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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