The price of stationery must have fallen quite a bit over the last 10 years.
Back in 1994, an effort to change the name of Park Avenue in Inverness to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue was derailed when the sheriff at the time objected because it would mean changing the address at the department's headquarters.
The reason given was that it would cost too much to change the stationery and other materials that carried the address. As a result, Inverness performed a civic contortion, changing Park Avenue everywhere except for one small strip in front of the sheriff's office.
Last week, city leaders formally unveiled the revamped downtown, which features nifty street lamps, comfy benches, stylish tree planters - and a complete Dr. Martin Luther King Avenue.
When the City Council considered the name change recently, the idea passed unanimously and with virtually no discussion. A different sheriff raised no fuss at all about the cost of changing letterheads on his official stationery. Maybe because he recognized just how foolish that would sound.
It would be simple to conclude, then, that the only thing that has changed in 10 years is the occupant of the sheriff's office. Charles Dean, now a state representative, was holding down the fort in 1994 and fended off the name change. The sheriff today, Jeff Dawsy, not only did not oppose the new name, he said through a spokeswoman that he could see some advantages to it.
Given the racial implications of naming a street in honor of the slain civil rights leader, it would be easy to look at Dean's objection as being that of a stereotypical son-of-the-South sheriff. That assumption, however, would be at odds with Dean's words and actions as the county's chief law enforcement officer in other race-related issues.
One striking example stands out from his long history as sheriff.
The year the name change question came before the Inverness City Council, Crystal River had been torn apart by racial strife after a city police officer fatally shot a black man who was strangling a woman police officer with his handcuffed hands.
Black residents took to the streets to protest the shooting of Jerome Bunch and for several tense days and nights, the city simmered. Crystal River's police officers wisely were pulled back so as not to make a bad situation worse, and the Florida Highway Patrol and the sheriff's office moved in.
In the middle of the chaos stood Sheriff Charles Dean, a mountain of calm in a churning sea of fury. He walked the neighborhoods, speaking to people he has known all his life and, on the day of Bunch's funeral, Dean was conspicuous standing outside the church and helping to soothe the angry residents.
Then, in a gesture both simple and full of class, Dean was the first, possibly the only, law enforcement official in Citrus County to go to the home of Bunch's mother and offer her his condolences.
As a gentleman, he recognized that, no matter what else had occurred, Mrs. Bunch had lost a son.
So, what was more indicative of the sheriff's character, his opposition to changing a street name in Inverness or his tireless efforts to keep the peace on the roiling streets of Crystal River?
As it happens, Dean now supports the long-overdue renaming of Park Avenue, stationery changes and all.
It is a small development in the overall renovation of the county seat's downtown business district, but it is very significant to a segment of the population whose needs and wishes have been overlooked over the years by local government.
Maybe this is a sign that the changes in Inverness are running deeper than new sidewalks and fancy street lamps.
