Way back in the previous millennium (May, 2000), I bought a property at 621 23rd St. that was to become Nautical Antiques and Decor. Upon buying this property that was formerly Fred Moore Auto Parts, Fred Moore gave me the following advice as he could apparently tell that i had no clue what i was getting into as an out of towner opening a new business in the Galveston that he cut his teeth on:
"Get to know as many of the locals that are worth a damn as you can."
"Always and only donate money to the campaigns of the person that's going to win the damn thing or else you're wasting your money."
"Keep your banking and your insurance through a local outlet because they are the only people who have a clue as to what the hell is going on around here."
Well if I was judged on how I followed Freddie's advice from 2000.... I don't think I would be too excited with my score.
Since ike and especially through Adrienne, I have met a lot of people in Galveston. Although I consider most people "worth a damn", I know what Fred meant and I have to say that until about 2 years ago i was doing pretty poorly in category 1.
As far as campaign contributions go, I would receive a big fat zero for contributions in general much less to any winner. It's possible that I would consider it in the future but it would have to be a candidate that Adrienne and I are really excited about.
The place where I redeemed myself was in the 3rd piece of advice. I knew I would have to have a bank and insurance so it was easy for me to ask Mr. Moore who he would suggest as far as banking and insurance go. He told me to go see Gary Gilliland at Hometown Bank and to get my insurance through Galveston Insurance Associates because "when it comes to insuring the special situations of Galveston, no national companies know what they are talking about."
Well that was 9 and a half years ago and, especially since ike, I have to thank Fred Moore for his advice. Galveston Insurance Associates (GIA) has a very intelligent, professional, and responsive team of agents. Many things unique to Galveston like WEA-1's and WPI-8's and Flood insurance in general which national agents might not have a clue about, are all old hat to the folks at GIA.
