Revelation About Mayor Shocking to Many

Public officials and residents of Newport Beach expressed shock Thursday at revelations that Mayor John E. Noyes had snatched his children from the legal custody of his ex-wife in 1976 and hid them for nearly a decade.

While some in the city said they sympathized with Noyes and believed that the details of his divorce and the actions he took to hide his children were a private matter, others said the mayor should have disclosed the information before running for office. The details were published in Thursday’s Times.

Noyes, who had first run for City Council in 1996 on a law-and-order platform, said Thursday that he stands by his earlier statements 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.” Noyes announced this week that he will not seek reelection.

Earlier, in a written statement, Noyes said that at the time, he had no choice but “to pursue an aggressive course of action in order to protect my children.”

According to interviews and court records, Noyes was wanted on 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 him and their daughters down to an exclusive island community off the Washington state coast.

In 1987, Heltsley sued Noyes in federal court, accusing him of destroying 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 suit.

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

The story was a bombshell in the wealthy beach community Thursday.

“Everyone has real mixed feelings about it,” said Ed Selich, chairman of the city’s Planning Commission. “I don’t think he’s had too many enemies. [But] with something like that in your past in this day and age--why would someone run for office? I think a lot of people are wrestling with that.”

Some, like Selich, question whether Noyes can continue to be an effective mayor. Balboa Island community leader Steve Bromberg, who organized Noyes’ 1996 campaign, said he was shocked by the news. He said that at that time he had asked Noyes point-blank about any problems in his past.

“[Noyes] made it very clear there was nothing,” said Bromberg, who has since parted ways with the mayor over other matters. “It’s disheartening to see a public official with that kind of a past. It’s embarrassing to Balboa Island and to Newport Beach.”

In the past, Noyes has held other public officials to high standards, once calling for a fellow City Council member’s resignation for what he said was an abuse of influence, and filing a criminal complaint against a former City Council candidate he accused of stealing a campaign sign. Some Newport Beach leaders said Thursday that it was clear that the mayor, who has served in the largely ceremonial role since last fall, should have been more forthcoming.

“Yes, he should have” told the public about his past, said former Mayor Clarence Turner. “I don’t know him that well, but I suspect he probably wishes he had.”

Former Councilwoman Jean Watt, who endorsed Noyes for her district’s seat during the 1996 election, said Noyes has done a good job and that she felt bad for him. Still, she said, “People who run for public office should have a pretty pristine history.”

Fellow council members were also disturbed by the news. Councilman Tod W. Ridgeway said the council will suffer by association with Noyes’ “unfortunate” history.

“If you’re an elected official . . . you are held to a higher standard.”

Councilman Dennis D. O’Neil, a former Newport Beach mayor, said his friend’s past has no relevance to what he does today.

“I think this matter involves a personal situation that occurred in John’s life many, many years ago--I believe it serves no public purpose,” said O’Neil.