School Board Names Its First Inspector General
The Los Angeles Unified School District at last has a full-fledged inspector general.
In a unanimous vote Tuesday, the Board of Education bestowed that title on Don Mullinax, who was hired in January 1999 to head the district’s new internal audits and special investigations unit.
The unit was created in a compromise between board member David Tokofsky, who was pressing for an inspector general, and others who had reservations about granting such sweeping powers.
Initially Mullinax was not able to issue subpoenas, one of the key powers of an inspector general. The Legislature conferred that power on his office last summer after he complained of lack of cooperation by some district employees and contractors during his investigation of the Belmont Learning Complex project.
Tuesday’s action does not add to his authority or responsibilities, Mullinax said. The significance of the name change is in sending a message that his office is independent, reporting directly to the board, he said.
The unit will be renamed, bringing it in line with the standards for federal and state inspectors general.
“They have established performance standards as well as quality standards that now the board can hold me to,” Mullinax said.
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