St. Leo Mayor Resigns Days After University Fires Him Over Unspecified "Allegation"

The mayor of St. Leo has resigned just two weeks after Saint Leo University fired him from his campus safety job following an internal investigation into an unspecified "allegation." The overlapping fallout leaves the small Pasco County town, population under 3,000, with an interim leader while questions about what happened remain unanswered.

Vincent "Mike" D'Ambrosio submitted his resignation letter to the town on Monday, Sept. 14. In it, he cited a need to "focus my time and attention on my family." He did not mention the university investigation or his firing. D'Ambrosio had served as St. Leo's mayor since 2022.

Town Commissioner Curtis Dwyer has been appointed interim mayor, taking over leadership of the town that sits alongside Saint Leo University in east Pasco County.

What the university says happened

D'Ambrosio's day job was head of safety and emergency management at Saint Leo University. According to the university, he was placed on administrative leave as soon as officials learned of an allegation against him. A university spokesperson said the school then opened "a thorough internal investigation" and concluded there was enough information to terminate him for cause. His last day at the university was Sept. 2, nearly two weeks before he resigned his elected post.

The university has declined to say what the allegation involved, describing it only as a personnel matter. It has not said whether the allegation touched on his work in campus safety, his conduct as an elected official, or something unrelated to either role.

A Pasco County Sheriff's Office spokesperson said the agency has not been contacted about any criminal incident involving D'Ambrosio. That means, as of now, there is no indication his firing stemmed from anything reported to law enforcement.

Silence from town hall

Other St. Leo commissioners did not respond to requests for comment on the resignation. That leaves residents of the small town, tucked next to the university's campus off State Road 52, largely in the dark about why their mayor left office so abruptly and so soon after losing his university job.

St. Leo operates with a small town commission, and the mayor's role there is largely tied to that body rather than a standalone executive office. Dwyer will serve as interim mayor while the commission decides how, or whether, to fill the seat permanently. The town has not announced a timeline for that decision, and it is not yet clear whether a special election or a commission appointment will determine D'Ambrosio's successor.

For now, St. Leo residents are left with a commissioner-turned-interim-mayor and a lot of unanswered questions about the man who led their town for three years.

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