By JENNIFER NETHERBY

Staff Reporter

A mild-mannered former high school accounting teacher has left L.A.’s power brokers on the edge of their seats.

Some are enthusiastically quoting from a scathing 207-page report by auditor Don Mullinax on problems related to the $200 million Belmont Learning Complex and more broadly, the Los Angeles Unified School District.

“He is one of the rare exceptions for the district. He is a big-time guy,” said Mike Roos, former assemblyman and longtime education critic.

Of course, not everyone is so pleased.

District Superintendent Ruben Zacarias, who has been singled out in Mullinex’s report, is reportedly considering filing a defamation lawsuit. L.A. law firm O’Melveny & Meyers, which directed the district in Belmont matters, has been sued.

The report essentially blames the Belmont fiasco, in which the most expensive high school ever undertaken was built on a toxic site, on former LAUSD boards and current and former staff members. Mullinex identifies several high-level LAUSD executives by name, recommending that they “be disciplined up to and including termination.”

The blunt language is clearly raising hackles at the LAUSD, which is described as having a “culture of deny, deflect and defend.”

“I said when I got here, the board hired me to be a watchdog and not a house pet,” said the 42-year-old Mullinax, who speaks with a slight Georgia accent.

Mullinax’s office has sent 15 volumes of findings to four prosecutorial agencies that could lead to criminal charges against consulting firms, district officials and former school board members.

A second report, to be released before Christmas, will detail where the Belmont money came from, how it was spent and to whom it went. That report may also name other consultants and district officials.

Despite his low-key demeanor, Mullinax, who came to the LAUSD in January to head its internal audit and special investigations unit at a $103,000 annual salary, is a seasoned veteran.

A Washington, D.C. transplant, he served for four years as lead investigator for the U.S. Senate and spent 15 years before that as auditor for the Department of Defense. He was lead investigator for former Sen. William Cohen, the powerful chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, investigating everything from the $200 billion Medicare program to the Federal Aviation Administration’s inspection practices. He also managed a team of investigators that included Secret Service agents and postal inspectors and made referrals to the Senate.

The team he has assembled to investigate Belmont is unlike any other that has looked into the district.

“I knew right away we couldn’t use any staff people” because of technical and other reasons, Mullinax said. “I needed to go out and find people independent of (LAUSD). It took awhile. Belmont went back 10 years. It’s hard to find people in California who haven’t done business with the district.”

On Mullinax’s team are eight former FBI agents all specialists in organized, white-collar and environmental crimes. In addition, he pulled in the Seattle environmental law firm Preston Gates & Ellis LLP, to round out a team of 20 part-time investigators.

Those who have worked with Mullinax describe him as uninterested in politics or personalities. One person said, “He sees his job as a mission.”

“The future of LAUSD is on the block in terms of credibility,” said Steve Soboroff, a member of the Proposition BB Oversight Committee and mayoral candidate. “He’s been very helpful on that front. If we see something that needs to go to him, we take it to him. It’s important to build credibility and trust, and we trust him.”

His arrival comes after one previous independent auditor was fired and a district-commissioned report was issued calling for reforms in auditing procedures. The LAUSD board has also doubled his staff to 63 and doubled his budget to $7.3 million a year over five years.

Mullinax was given subpoena power this month, which is central in his ability to question officials.

“The key was (that the board) made the auditor report to the board and they got someone experienced,” said Bill Siart, who challenged Zacarias for superintendent. “By structuring it right, they allowed this to happen.”

But even with the initial successes, some say the jury is still out on Mullinax.

“Results are what counts,” said Soboroff. “The result is not in the number of investigations you open. He’s building his own batting average now and he’s doing it carefully.”

Mullinax said he didn’t take the job to make friends, but he’s also not on a personal vendetta. He says he’s heard rumors that some are comparing him to Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. “I say, I finished my first report in six months, not six years,” he said.