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- Written by: DENNIS FORDHAM
Effective Jan. 1, 2023, California’s Welfare and Institution Law is amended to add new sections 21000 – 21008 enacting the “Supported Decisionmaking” law, or AB 1663 (2022).
Note: The phrase, “Decision Making” is melded into a single word, “Decisionmaking” in this instance.
Supported decisionmaking is the centerpiece within the broader AB 1663 legislation that also reforms California’s Conservatorship law.
AB 1663 was co-sponsored by numerous organizations including the ACLU California Action and Free Britney.
Its intent is to reduce how many disabled people are conserved. Conservatorships put a conservator in charge of many aspects of a person’s life and thus take rights and self-determination away.
“Adults with disabilities, including older adults with disabilities, are presumed competent and to have the capacity to make decisions regarding their day-to-day health, safety, welfare, and social and financial affairs, unless otherwise determined through legal proceedings.”
“Supported Decisionmaking offers adults with disabilities a flexible way to maintain autonomy and decisionmaking authority over their own lives by developing and maintaining voluntary supports to assist them in understanding, making, communicating, and implementing their own informed choices.” It should reduce the number of conservatorships of disabled persons.
“Supported Decisionmaking means an individualized process of supporting and accommodating an adult with a disability to enable them to make life decisions without impeding the self-determination of the adult.” It enables disabled persons to seek assistance with managing their day-to-day personal living, health care, financial and legal affairs.
Supported decisionmaking involves a written “supportive decisionmaking agreement” that must, amongst other things, include a list of the areas in which the adult with a disability requests support and a list of the areas in which the supporter agrees to provide the support.
Such written agreements are another tool, in addition to powers of attorney and advance health care directives as alternatives to conservatorship.
Through supported decisionmaking a disabled person is entitled to have their “supporters” present in meetings with health care providers, financial planners and attorneys, amongst other professionals, in order for the disabled person, “to understand, make, and communicate decisions and to express preferences, including, but not limited to, medical and financial powers of attorney, authorized representative forms, health care directives, release of information forms, and representative payees.”
Many people, disabled or not, seek assistance with decisions and bring trusted confidants to meetings. What is new, however, is that the disabled person’s legal capacity to make decisions and execute documents will now, “… be assessed with any supports, including supported decisionmaking, that the person is using or could use.”
It is intended that, “supported decisionmaking can be a way to strengthen the capacity of an adult with a disability.” Presently, a person’s capacity to understand, communicate, make decisions, and execute documents must be established without the involvement of supports.
Attorneys presently often ask other attendees to leave the meeting so that the attorney can engage in a one-on-one discussion with the client to evaluate whether he or she sufficiently understands the available options, opportunities and risks at issue, and also that the client is acting voluntarily.
Persons who executed legal documents with questionable capacity may wish to utilize supported decisionmaking to execute new documents.
It remains to be seen how supported decisionmaking will be implemented in California. Some experienced attorneys have expressed opposition, reservation and concern about whether supported decisionmaking will be more beneficial or more harmful to disabled persons.
The foregoing is a brief discussion of some portions of supported decisionmaking.
To read AB 1663 go to www.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov and search for Bill Number “AB 1663” in the 2021-22 Session Year. For legal guidance consult an attorney.
Dennis A. Fordham, attorney, is a State Bar-Certified Specialist in estate planning, probate and trust law. His office is at 870 S. Main St., Lakeport, Calif. He can be reached at
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- Written by: NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
In early January NASA’s retired Earth Radiation Budget Satellite, or ERBS, is expected to reenter Earth’s atmosphere after almost four decades in space.
For 21 of those years, the ERBS actively investigated how the Earth absorbed and radiated energy from the Sun, and made measurements of stratospheric ozone, water vapor, nitrogen dioxide, and aerosols.
As of Thursday, Jan. 5, the Department of Defense predicted that the 5,400-pound satellite will reenter the atmosphere at approximately 6:40 p.m. EST on Sunday, Jan. 8 with an uncertainty of +/- 17 hours.
NASA and the Defense Department will continue to monitor the reentry and update the predictions.
NASA expects most of the satellite to burn up as it travels through the atmosphere, but some components are expected to survive the reentry. The risk of harm coming to anyone on Earth is very low – approximately 1 in 9,400.
Launched from the Space Shuttle Challenger on Oct. 5, 1984, the ERBS spacecraft was part of NASA’s three-satellite Earth Radiation Budget Experiment, or ERBE, mission. It carried three instruments, two to measure the Earth's radiative energy budget, and one to measure stratospheric constituents, including ozone.
The energy budget, the balance between the amount of energy from the Sun that Earth absorbs or radiates, is an important indicator of climate health, and understanding it can also help reveal weather patterns. Ozone concentrations in the stratosphere play an important role in protecting life on Earth from damaging ultraviolet radiation.
ERBS far exceeded its expected two-year service life, operating until its retirement in 2005. Its observations helped researchers measure the effects of human activities on Earth’s radiation balance. NASA has continued to build on the success of the ERBE mission with projects including the current Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) suite of satellite instruments.
The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment II, or SAGE II, on the ERBS made stratospheric measurements. SAGE II collected important data that confirmed the ozone layer was declining on a global scale. That data helped shape the international Montreal Protocol Agreement, resulting in a dramatic decrease around the globe in the use of ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons.
Today, SAGE III on the International Space Station collects data on the health of the ozone layer.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Hobbs, 41, has spent his entire career of nearly 20 years with the Clearlake Police Department, and most recently held the rank of lieutenant.
On Dec. 19, he was sworn in as interim chief by Chief Andrew White as White prepared to leave for his new job as Martinez’s police chief.
On Thursday, the council voted to give Hobbs the job on a permanent basis.
City Manager Alan Flora presented Hobbs’ contract to the council.
Flora’s written report which accompanies the contract, beginning on page 39 of the agenda packet below, explained Hobbs’ selection as chief going forward.
“Under Chief White’s leadership Acting Chief Hobbs has developed into a strong leader that is prepared to continue and improve upon the success of the department over the past several years,” Flora wrote.
The contract has an initial three-year term, with a base salary of $155,812.80, a 5% incentive for completion of a bachelor’s degree, a 5% incentive for completion of the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training’s executive certificate, and other benefits consistent with the city’s management benefits plan.
“I’m hopeful that the council will approve this agreement with Mr. Hobbs as police chief,” Flora said.
Flora added, “We envision doing a more formal swearing-in of Hobbs as permanent chief later this month.”
There was no comment from the council and no public comment before Councilman Dirk Slooten moved to approve the contract, which both Councilmember Joyce Overton and Councilman Russ Cremer offered to second. In the vote, they were joined by Mayor Russ Perdock and Councilman David Claffey in giving final approval.
After the vote, the council and staff applauded Hobbs and offered him their congratulations.
Later in the meeting, Cremer reported that he had received a phone call that morning from Nick Bennett, a retired Clearlake Police sergeant and councilman who now lives in South Dakota. He said Bennett sent his best wishes to the city and to Hobbs in his new role.
Hobbs will oversee a department with 23 sworn officer positions, with just two of those unfilled as of White’s departure in December.
“We’re in a good place” with staffing, Sgt. Martin Snyder told Lake County News at White’s Dec. 19 farewell event.
In other business on Thursday, Mayor Perdock presented a proclamation in remembrance of retired Judge Richard Freeborn, who died Sept. 30, to his widow, Kathy.
The council also honored city employees and volunteers in recognition of their service, presented a proclamation declaring January 2023 as Human Trafficking Awareness Month, heard from city staff about the new recreation and events division’s efforts, approved mayor appointments and appointments of its members as representatives to the CalCities Redwood Empire Division, to represent the city and vote at the Division Legislative Committee meetings.
There also were two public hearings, one to accept updated state building codes and another to authorize the extension of the temporary closure of certain roads in order to reduce illegal dumping and protect the environment.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
010523 Clearlake City Council Packet by LakeCoNews on Scribd
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Michael Antonio Dodd, 30, is charged with 14 counts involving nine juvenile victims, both males and females, said Deputy District Attorney Rich Watson.
Following Dodd’s Thursday preliminary hearing, visiting Judge Thomas Maddock from Contra Costa County ordered that Dodd be held to answer in the case.
Dodd now faces trial for one count of felony stalking, two counts of felony lewd and lascivious acts with a minor, eight misdemeanor counts of annoying or molesting a minor, and three counts of misdemeanor simple battery, which Watson said is harmful or offensive touching.
Dodd’s defense attorney, Andrea Sullivan, said she did not have a comment on the case at this time when contacted by Lake County News.
Watson said the Middletown Unified School District hired Dodd in the summer of 2021 as a science teacher and boys soccer coach at Middletown High School.
The time frame for the case is from the start of June 2021 to the end of September 2021, according to the amended charging complaint.
Watson said Dodd first made contact with students while coaching at soccer practice during the summer, and then later in his science classroom.
The first day of school for Middletown in the 2021-22 school year was Aug. 16, according to the district’s Facebook page.
Less than a month later, Watson said authorities were contacted by school officials about Dodd.
Specifically, Watson said the Lake County Sheriff’s Office was notified on Sept. 14, 2021, that a staff member had complained to the school about Dodd’s inappropriate behavior toward a student.
Watson said the initial report was vague beyond allegations of Dodd having inappropriate communications with a female juvenile.
By Sept. 17, 2021, Middletown Unified gave Dodd a letter of release, terminating him from his job based on the school’s own investigation into allegations, “which is pretty fast,” Watson noted.
The initial investigation involved just one juvenile victim, Watson said.
District Attorney Susan Krones filed the original complaint against Dodd on Sept. 21, 2021.
That document referred to the original alleged victim, charging one count of misdemeanor annoying and molesting a child under the age of 18.
As a result of the followup investigation, Watson amended the complaint this past July and added more counts for the additional eight victims.
The amended complaint alleged that Dodd stalked and harassed the original victim over the course of four months, making “a credible threat” against her that caused her to fear for her own safety and that of her family.
Watson said that if Dodd is convicted of the lewd acts charges, he faces lifetime registration as a sex offender.
Maddock ordered Dodd to be arraigned at 8:15 a.m. Feb. 7 in Superior Court Department 3, Watson said.
At arraignment, Watson said Dodd will enter a plea, and then new court dates will be set in the run up to the trial.
Email Elizabeth Larson at