FAIRHOPE, Ala. - City Administrator Gregg Mims has made the short list again for a senior local government position, since his efforts to win the top spot in Foley.

He lost out then to Michael Thompson, who had just left as county administrator in Baldwin County, following a contentious shakeup in top personnel after the November elections of two new commissioners.

Mims will interview April 26 in DeFuniak Springs, seat of Walton County northeast of Destin, for the administrator post there.

“Like the opportunity that came up in Foley, this was just another opportunity that I was made aware of,” Mims said. “I’ve always done things in my life to better myself professionally and personally, I felt like this was something I need to look at.”

Mims makes $110,000 in his Fairhope job, and the salary range in Walton is $81,000 to $138,000, according to reports.

If Mims is hired over three other candidates, it will be despite efforts by local activist and gadfly Paul Ripp to derail his candidacy.

Similar efforts by Ripp colleague and former mayoral candidate Chris Warner may have cost Mims that job, according to the Fairhope city administrator.

“I’ve retained legal counsel to deal with that issue,” Mims said then. “I take it pretty seriously that someone would send an email that would affect the outcome of a potential employment issue.”

In the Walton County case, Warner distributed an email Tuesday morning on behalf of Ripp, who does not usually use a computer himself, stating he had contacted the human resources director in Walton County and gave numerous reasons why Mims should not be hired.

Ripp confirmed Tuesday he had called and told that Florida county personnel director not to hire Mims, giving a number of reasons.

Ripp said he was motivated to make the call on April 19 by his interest in government accountability.

Mims declined comment about Ripp’s actions.

“I’ve put it in an attorney’s hands,” he said Tuesday about the earlier incident with Warner, adding he has not taken any legal action against him to date.

At the time, Warner said to “bring it on,” regarding a lawsuit.

Ripp is well known in Fairhope government circles and is a frequent speaker at city meetings. He also hands out flyers at some meetings under the name Clean Sweep, which has a Fairhope post office box but little other visible organizational status.

He is also known in larger circles as the person who filed an ethics complaint against state Sen. Lee “Trip” Pittman. A letter he wrote to the commission earlier this year requested that the commission investigate itself for failing to properly investigate his complaint.

The commission’s general counsel responded to that letter by dropping the complaint.

Although the complaint was dropped in Ripp’s case, he said a lawyer for a state government agency has filed a complaint against Pittman. The records that Ripp obtained upon which he based his complaint and provided that agency, have been widely reported in local media.

An agency attoney would neither confirm nor deny that he did file a complaint, but he also indicated that an official might be obligated to do so if he were provided with convincing evidence of a possisble violation.

“Obviously there’s some interest there,” Mims said of the Walton job. “They had over a hundred people apply. It’s an opportunity I’m looking at. It’s not unlike any other opportunity I’ve had in my life. I think the majority of folks, and I think the mayor and council, would not hold anything against someone who is always trying to do the right thing and better themselves.”

For his part, Mims said no one had ever filed an ethics complaint against him.