Audit raps county hiring office By Roberto Sanchez Seattle Times staff reporter King County's Office of Human Resources Management lost records and ignored county hiring policies in its own offices, and its former director (RICARDO CRUZ) hired acquaintances who were paid higher salaries than required by county rules, according to a report by the county auditor. Ricardo Cruz made sure his friends/cronies got hired at the mid to high end range of the pay scale and this act cost King County taxpayers $305,000, then another 40 MILLION dollars after Permatemps sued the county for the jobs they were supposed to get if the hiring practices had been legal.