Graham appoints Carla Sikes as city attorney

One of Mayor Heather Graham’s first actions after getting sworn in as Pueblo’s mayor was firing George Hypolite, the city attorney who had been with the city for less than six months.

Graham announced at the Monday city council work session that her interim appointment, Carla Sikes, will be the full-time city attorney.

Sikes was the only person to apply when the 21-day application period was open, according to Haley Sue Robinson, the city’s director of public affairs. Sikes has most recently served as Pueblo’s municipal judge but has previous experience working in the city attorney’s office.

“She has been with the city for several years, (she’s) very qualified to be in the position. Over the last month, she’s been very helpful to the city and the city council on getting our projects done, and she picked up where the last attorney left off,” Graham said at the work session.

Department directors can be hired — and terminated — by the mayor, per the city charter. But appointments still need to be confirmed by city council.

Sikes’s confirmation is expected to come up at council’s next meeting on March 11.

Robinson said that the municipal judge position will be posted to find a permanent replacement for Sikes, but in the meantime, other judges are filling in “to ensure business and are cases continue.”

Sikes is the fourth attorney to lead the city’s legal department in the past year.

Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics for the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com. Please support local news at subscribe.chieftain.com.