Ian Parkinson steps up, quotes Lincoln 

Ian Parkinson was sworn in as San Luis Obispo County sheriff on Jan. 3 in the county government center. New county supervisor Paul Teixeira and re-elected supervisor Bruce Gibson, along with other re-elected county officials, were sworn in as well.

But the star of the show was Parkinson, who replaced Pat Hedges, the controversial three-term sheriff.

Addressing the packed Board of Supervisors chamber, Parkinson thanked his supporters and said he was humbled by the support he’d received. He also quoted a now-obscure Abraham Lincoln order to General Ulysses S. Grant, issued near the end of the Civil War: “Gen. Sheridan says, ‘If the thing is pressed, I think that Lee will surrender. Let the thing be pressed.’”

After the ceremony, some sheriff’s deputies were talking about their new boss’s presidential quote.

“I really don’t know what the hell he meant by the Lincoln thing,” one said. “He probably means serious business, I guess.”