DCF Regional Director For North Florida Resigns

The head of the Department of Children and Families for Alachua and 19 other North Florida counties has resigned after agency officials were told by a reporter that a judge ruled against her in a civil lawsuit over a liquor license transfer.

From May 2007 until Monday, Nancy Dreicer served as the DCF's regional director for Northeast Florida. She was the second-highest paid administrator for the DCF.

A week ago, Dreicer's personal legal problems came to the attention of DCF leaders after the Palm Beach Post reported on the case and DCF attorneys began reviewing court records.

According to the Post, St. Johns County Circuit Judge J. Michael Traynor ruled in June that Dreicer fraudulently transferred a liquor license for a Ponte Vedra Beach bar from a corporation — for which she was an officer — into her name alone.

The license transfer happened after the corporation was ordered to pay one of its creditors about $90,000, according to court records. The judge determined the transfer was wrong and that an investor would be allowed to force the license to be sold in order to recover his losses.

Dreicer could not be reached for comment, and her attorney did not return requests for comment on the case.

Court officials said Dreicer told them she planned to appeal the judge's ruling.

Dreicer was hired by the DCF in 2003. Agency records show she had previously worked as a chief operating officer for two private industry concerns: Lucent Technologies Mobility and AT&T American Transtech.

In return for her $132,000 a year salary, Dreicer supervised the work of about 1,400 state employees and a budget of approximately $81 million, according to DCF records.

The region formerly under Dreicer's purview encompasses Judicial Circuits 3, 4, 7 and 8, including the following counties: Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Madison, Nassau, Putnam, St. Johns, Suwannee, Taylor, Union and Volusia.

DCF spokesman for the region John Harrell told The Sun that Pattie Mallon has been named interim regional managing director. Mallon had been serving as family and community services director for the DCF region.

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