BROWN ACT: APPLICABLE TO INFORMAL MEETINGS AND DINNERS

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to block evasive techniqu®s. An informal conference or caucus permits crystallization of secret decisions to a point just short of ceremonial acceptanc®. There is rarely any purpose to a non-public pre-meeting con- ference except to conduct som® part of the decisional process behind closed doors. Only by embracing the collective inquiry and discussion stages, as well as the ultimate step of official action, can an open met- ing regulation frustrate these evasive devices. As operative criteria, formality and informality are alien to laws design, exposing it to the very evasions it was designed to prevent. Construed in the light of the Brown Act's objectives, the term "meeting" extends to informal sessions or eonf®r®nees of th® Board members designed for the discussion of public business. The Elks Club luncheon, attend®d by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, was such a meeting." Thus, informal dinner m®etings of the City Council where a quorum fa pres®nt, and where the public': business is dis- cussed, are subject to the public notice and public access requirements of the Brown Act. Would the Brown Act be applicabl® to the aforedescribed informal dinner meeting if less than a quorum of the City Council members were present? Generally, no, unless (a) .- those memb®rs present constituting leas than a quorum con- stituted a permanent committ®® appointed by the City Council pursuant to a minute action, resolution, ordinance or charter provision, and (b) those members present actually discussed the public's business. In accord, see 32 Ops. Cal. Atty. Gen. 240 (1958) . The distinction between permanent and non-permanent committees arises by virtue of the addition in 1961 of Section 54952.5 of the Government Code, making the Brown Act applicable to permanent boards or commissions of a local agency. See unpublish®d Attorney General's Opinion I.L. 65-57, and I.L. 68-106. The Attorney General has provided some ex- amples of this distinction such as the situation where the Mayor appoints a non-permanent committee consisting of less than a quorum of th® City Council to study certain city pro- blems. Such a committee, since it was not formed by minute action, resolution, ordinance yr charter provision, would be an "ad hoc" or non-permanent committee and a meeting consisting of less than a quorum of City Council members would not be subject to the Brown Act. See Attorney General's unpublished opinion I.L. 65-57. ~6