DISTRICT WATCHDOG HIRES 12 NEW INVESTIGATORS; EXPANDED UNIT TO PROBE MISCONDUCT IN LAUSD.

Byline: Greg Gittrich Staff Writer

Coming off two critical reviews of the Belmont Learning Center, Los Angeles Unified's top auditor Don Mullinax revealed Wednesday that he has hired 12 new investigators to root out problems in the nation's second-largest school district.

``Those who are thinking about using improper or illegal schemes to take funds away from the children of LAUSD should think twice,'' said Mullinax, director of the school district's Internal Audit and Special Investigations Unit.

Before the hirings, Mullinax said he had one full-time investigator on his staff, which includes several auditors, lawyers and law enforcement consultants.

The new investigators come from both the public and private sectors and include former Los Angeles Police Department detectives, former criminal investigators for the federal government, attorneys, certified fraud examiners and private investigators.

Mullinax's audits of Belmont the nation's costliest high school were instrumental in the district's recent administrative house cleaning, which included the ousting of the chief administrative officer, general legal counsel and superintendent.

According to Mullinax, his branch has 22 ongoing investigations. While he would not disclose detailed information about the work, he said the probes are focusing on payroll problems, ``ghost employees'' collecting paychecks, overbilling by contractors, misuse of funds and equipment, and project management costs for repair work funded by the $2.4 billion Proposition BB bond measure.

The investigator's commitment to probe Proposition BB work touched off a nasty disagreement last week between LAUSD Chief Operating Officer Howard Miller and Steve Soboroff, chairman of the bond oversight committee. At a public meeting, the two men vehemently disagreed on preliminary findings by the audit branch.

Mayor Richard Riordan has since taken steps to mend the relationship between Soboroff and Miller, viewing them as key players in the district's attempts to build hundreds of needed schools.

The additions to Mullinax's staff bring the audit branch's work force to 48 people. In the near future, Mullinax said he intends to hire 18 more employees, including auditors, investigators and clerical staff.

``When I first got here, I had about a $2.8 million budget, not even that much,'' Mullinax said. ``I went to the board and told them if they wanted me to reduce waste, fraud and abuse in the district and increase accountability around here, I would need more money.''

``To do just Belmont, I needed more money for the investigations and they gave it to me.''

A series of board actions since July have more than doubled the investigation unit's yearly budget, which now sits around $6 million.

``The hiring of these experienced and trained investigators show that we are serious,'' he said.