STEVE SMITH -- What’s Up?

The news was shocking.

Twenty-four years ago, Newport Beach Mayor John Noyes planned and carried

out the surreptitious removal of his two daughters, then 6 and 7, from

the custody of their mother, who then spent nine years and considerable

resources trying to locate them.

But as shocking as the news was, the reaction by some in the community

puzzles me even more.

Not long ago, revelations like these would have forced Noyes to be run

out of town on a rail.

That some citizens are now making the claim that Noyes’ past is a

“personal matter” that has no bearing on his current position as mayor of

Newport Beach is the result of decades of confusion about right and

wrong.

What was once crystal clear is now cause for hand-wringing, lest a critic

be labeled “judgmental.”

Smoke pot when you were a kid? Have one too many boyfriends when you were

young and stupid?

Sorry, but as a changed, mature adult, you’re now exempt from judging

anyone else’s behavior. And that’s too bad, for it was the fear of public

condemnation, of being judged, and the certainty that one would be

judged, that kept so many of us on the straight and narrow for so many

years.

Often, judging is now worse than the offense we judge. “Stay out of it,”

is the message we hear, “It’s a personal matter.”

And yet I wonder how many of Noyes supporters were calling for President

Clinton’s resignation a year ago over his own “personal matter.”

The president should have resigned but chose to weather the storm of

controversy. Why? As with Noyes, he calculated that he could remain in

office.

For this writer, there is no gray area--character does count.

Mistakes are made by elected officials who feel no shame, no remorse and

thus have no desire to account for their actions.

That they continue to do this is of less concern to me than our tolerance

of this irresponsible behavior. Because of our own guilt about our own

transgressions, we are weak and silent on these matters.

The standards to which we hold our public officials have fallen too far.

What Noyes did was wrong. He should apologize to his children, their

mother and his constituents for what he did.

After all, the mayor’s actions were not those of a young person doing

stupid things; of a person who has grown and matured and regrets his

irresponsible past.

I don’t know Noyes and he did not return my two phone calls to get a

comment for this column. But from the accounts I have read, Noyes offered

not a shred of remorse for taking two children and running from the law.

At the time of the abductions, he was a full-grown adult, a father, who

made a premeditated decision to circumvent an established legal system

for obtaining the physical custody of children.

In 1976, he acted as judge, jury and marshal to fulfill his own desires

of raising his children without their birth mother.

His reasons for carrying out those actions are hazy. Newspaper accounts

state there was no evidence the girls were being abused or neglected by

their mother.

And once he had the girls, did he provide for them a stable, secure home?

Not in my opinion. The accounts I have read were of a family on the run,

trying, it appears, to stay one step ahead of the law.

When asked about his family’s world tour, Noyes was quoted as saying,

“It’s against the law to travel?”

No, it’s not against the law, but I would challenge anyone’s assertion

that such prolific movements are better for two growing children than the

steadiness of one home and the same friends, school and surroundings.

That his kids are happy and well-adjusted is hardly an end to justify the

means, for no one can say that had they been left as they were that they

would not have had a better life.

It is this complete disregard for the law and the twisted logic that

Noyes’ actions were in the best interests of the children that disturbs

me.

Former Lemhi County prosecutor Fred Snook, who handled the case at the

time, is not wavering. “That kidnapping was an atrocious act,” he was

quoted as saying.

Snook charged Noyes with second-degree kidnapping. But when the law

finally caught up with Noyes, he never stood trial and the charges were

dropped.

Matters of personal responsibility are often best handled by the people

who are not confused by guilt, misguided loyalties or extenuating

circumstances.

Ask a child to comment on the mayor’s actions and you’re likely to get

the following responses, as I got from my two kids after I told them what

had happened:

“Did he go to jail?” Roy asked.

“No, Roy, he did not,” I replied.

And Bean asked, “Is he still the mayor?”

“Yes, Bean, he is,” I said.

“Why don’t they kick him out?” he responded.

See? This matter is so simple, even a child can understand it.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and freelance writer. You may

leave a message for him on our Readers Hotline at (949) 642-6086.