Ross Ambrose
Experienced Leadership Proven Results Preparing for Tomorrow
Ross Ambrose has spent more than two decades serving High Springs, as a volunteer, business leader, community advocate, nonprofit leader, and City Commissioner.
His approach to leadership is rooted in a simple idea: good leaders don't just react to problems; they prepare for them.
Meet Ross Ambrose — campaign video
Ross served on the High Springs City Commission from 2020–2023. During his term, he focused on protecting taxpayers' investments and preparing the City's infrastructure for the future.
He helped move forward repairs to the City's failing primary sewer lift station before it failed, led efforts to provide backup generators for sewer lift stations, supported construction of a third municipal well, approved improvements that created better circulation within the City's water system, supported the purchase of a new brush truck, modernized public-safety equipment, and helped protect City Hall and the Fire Station through roof replacements funded with federal ARPA dollars.
Ross also supported long-range road planning, increased Parks & Recreation funding, responsible updates to the City's Comprehensive Plan and development regulations, independent financial audits, employee retention, and successful grant efforts, including 100% funding for the state-required expansion of the City's wastewater treatment facility.
But Ross's leadership experience didn't begin at City Hall.
He served 18 years on the High Springs Parks & Recreation Advisory Board, chairing it for more than a decade. He was Treasurer and Design Team Chair with High Springs Main Street and currently serves as Treasurer of Heart of High Springs, where he helped lead efforts securing more than $130,000 in private donations for ten community history murals without government funding.
His leadership is also recognized beyond High Springs.
Ross served three years on the Alachua County Tourist Development Council, including two years as Vice Chair. The Alachua County Commission nominated him to the Governor for appointment to the Children's Trust of Alachua County. Today, he serves as Chair of the Alachua County Surtax Review Board, helping oversee the appropriate use of voter-approved Wild Spaces Public Places and Infrastructure funds throughout Alachua County.
He is also a two-time Florida League of Cities Home Rule Hero, recognized for advocating for the ability of local communities to make decisions for themselves.
Ross brings substantial private-sector leadership experience as well. After purchasing AAA Porta Serv in 2014, he rebranded the company as Porta Serve and grew it into a business generating more than $3 million annually and serving more than 7,000 square miles of North Central Florida. His industry peers elected him Secretary, Vice President, and ultimately President of the Portable Sanitation Association International, where he also became a Master Trainer.
Before becoming an entrepreneur, Ross worked in film and television production in Chicago and later as Production Manager for acclaimed underwater filmmaker Wes Skiles. His work included projects involving Discovery Channel, PBS, Universal Pictures, Lakeshore Entertainment, and filmmaker James Cameron. He received a Special Thanks credit on the James Cameron-produced feature film Sanctum.
Across a remarkably varied career, the job has changed, but Ross's approach hasn't:
Listen. Prepare. Manage resources responsibly. Invest in people. Solve problems before they become crises.
As High Springs continues to grow, Ross believes our challenge isn't whether growth will occur. It's whether we will manage that growth thoughtfully while protecting the character, infrastructure, natural resources, and quality of life that make High Springs special.
That's why Ross is asking the citizens of High Springs for the opportunity to serve again.
Experienced Leadership. Proven Results. Preparing for Tomorrow.
Hear it from Ross
Why I Challenged the City’s Qualifying Process — And Why I Am Dismissing My Case
This lawsuit was always about the integrity of the process.
The central question was not whether I wanted another candidate removed from the ballot. It was whether the City followed Florida election law when it reopened a qualifying process that its designated election official had already completed.
More specifically, the question was whether the City Attorney or City Commission had any authority under Florida law to undo that completed process and create a new qualifying period.
I believed that question was important enough to challenge the City. I still believe the underlying concerns are legitimate.
But there comes a point when continuing litigation is no longer the most productive way to serve the community. With the November 3 election approaching, mounting legal costs, and an increasingly limited opportunity to have the underlying issues meaningfully reviewed by a judge before the election, I have decided to voluntarily dismiss my case.
The Key Issues
- The City provided candidates with an incorrect form. This was an administrative error by the City, not an error created by the candidates.
- The City Clerk acted to correct the City’s error. After learning of the problem, the Clerk promptly contacted the candidates, obtained the correct forms and proceeded with the qualifying process.
- The candidates were treated as qualified. The original qualifying period had closed, the corrected documents had been accepted, and the City publicly announced that four candidates had qualified for the two open Commission seats.
- The City Attorney subsequently advised that qualifying should be reopened. The City’s announcement was removed, and the following morning the City Attorney provided a written opinion recommending a new qualifying period.
- The central issue was authority. The question was not simply whether the City Attorney agreed with the Clerk’s decision. It was whether Florida law gave the City Attorney or City Commission the authority to undo the qualifying officer’s completed process and create a new one.
- Florida law governed the process. High Springs had no local ordinance or established process governing this situation. In the absence of an applicable local provision, Florida law governs municipal elections.
- Florida law provides a judicial process for challenging candidate qualifications. Once candidates had been qualified, my position was that a challenge to whether a candidate should remain qualified belonged in the process established by state election law, including judicial review—not in a new qualifying process decided upon by the City at the City Attorney’s direction.
- Reopening qualifying did more than correct the City’s mistake. It gave candidates another opportunity to address potential deficiencies unrelated to the incorrect form originally supplied by the City.
- My lawsuit challenged the process. It was not an effort to have the City decide who should or should not appear on the ballot. It sought judicial review of whether the City had the legal authority to reopen qualifying.
- I am dismissing the lawsuit, but the underlying question remains. Dismissing the case does not mean I now agree with the City’s actions. It means I no longer believe continuing the litigation is the most productive way to address my concerns.
Moving Forward
I was willing to challenge the City when I believed it had departed from the established process of governance that citizens should be able to expect.
I remain willing to ask difficult questions and hold government accountable when I believe established processes are not being followed.
I’m running for City Commission to put my experience and skills to work addressing problems, strengthening informed decision-making and bringing greater accountability to City Hall.
At this point, I believe I can accomplish more for High Springs by focusing my energy on those goals than by continuing this lawsuit.
That means focusing on the challenges facing our City, making informed decisions based on facts and established processes, and working to strengthen public confidence in how City Hall operates.
That is where I intend to put my focus moving forward.
— Ross
Contact Ross
Ross Ambrose, For High Springs City Commission, Seat #2
If you would like a sign, or anything else, send Ross an email and he will take care of it personally.
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