President: Ernesto Cuesta <more about Ernesto>

Vice President: Larry Imber

2ndVice President: Santiago Echemendia

Secretary: Gail Feldman

Treasurer: Eduardo "Eddy" del Rio

Chairman of the Board: T. Sinclair (Tory) Jacobs
<more about Tory>

Communications Director: Natalie Brown

About the Officers

From BHA News, Winter 2010

Board officers elected at Annual Meeting

A new slate of officers was elected for BHA at the Annual Meeting in February. Ernesto Cuesta, who has been treasurer for BHA for six years and president and treasurer at his building The Metropolitan, is now president of BHA. Professionally, he is chairman of the Enterprises Group Corporation, a multi-faceted company that is involved in many business lines.

First Vice President remains Larry Imber, of The Palace and an oral surgeon/periodontist by profession. Santiago Echemendia, a resident of Two Tequesta Point and an attorney with Tew Cardenas LLP where he is partner and chair of the firm's Local Government Law Group, is new to the executive committee. He joins as Second Vice President. Eduardo "Eddy" del Rio is taking over as BHA Treasurer, after serving as a BHA volunteer. He is a resident of Brickell Townhouse and is a financial advisor with Mass Mutual. BHA Secretary is Gail Feldman, a resident of Bristol Tower who was appointed to the office last year when Gloria Konsler left Miami. Gail is VP at Steven J. Feldman, Inc. Real Estate Development. Long-time BHA president Tory Jacobs is being kept close at hand as Chairman of the Board, an advisory position.

From BHA News, Winter 2009

BHA Leader Tory Jacobs

By Natalie Brown, BHA Communications Director, News Editor

T. Sinclair Jacobs, known to all as "Tory" and to many as "Mr. Brickell," has handed over the presidential reigns of BHA after 19 years of serving in the organization's top office.

"It took me 19 years to find a replacement," Mr. Jacobs joked at the BHA's Annual Meeting in February. "But after working with Claudia Bruce in her role as vice president for several years, I know we've got the right person for the job. She's both capable and committed."

It also took this same nearly two decades for Tory to allow himself to be the feature of a BHA News "Volunteer Profile," always suggesting others to highlight when this editor has asked for the personal interview.

He finally agreed that it seemed a fitting time to allow me to write an article about the leader behind BHA for so long as he moves from the President role to Chairman of the Board, a position, which he reminds, according to the bylaws, "has no official duties." As his Communications Director for nearly as long as he's been BHA president, I also think Tory figured I was as good as any to get the facts straight.

I try to find out what motivates or inspires volunteers to work in what can be thankless jobs, carrying out some pretty time-consuming, non-glamorous duties. For no pay. For little, if any, power or recognition. The most direct way to find out is to simply ask, "Why do you do it?"

For Tory, the reason for 20 years of volunteerism is simple. It's not outrage over a particular issue. He has no specific ax to grind, no philosophical discord with "the establishment," societal mores, or even "young kids these days." In fact, very little gets him noticeably riled up. His answer is uncomplicated, as unassuming as Tory himself: "There were some issues that had to be addressed, otherwise decisions would be made without the input of those of us who live here. It had to be done...someone had to do it."

So he has been an advocate for Brickell out of a sense of duty, keeping the focus on the Brickell Homeowners organization, and those individuals of BHA and what they want to see for their neighborhood. Tory believes in the adage that one gets further with honey than vinegar. He also believes one learns more by listening than by speaking. Tracing his path to here and now, it all fits. It all makes Tory.

Tory is unmistakably southern, not having lost his southern drawl or his southern charm. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, he was born, where else, but on the city's most prominent roadway, Peachtree Street. His family owned a chain of drug stores, and he grew up in the tony Buckhead area. Tory enjoyed all the mundane yet sublime rites of childhood: boy scouts, summer camp, family fun.

College began at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, followed with a degree from the Emory University School of Business, and soon after graduation, a Naval commission serving aboard ships in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and South Pacific. Tory served in active duty in WWII from 1943 to 1946, which was a time of great adventure, he admits, for young men like him eager to see the world and do good. But it wasn't without times of dire fear either. More than once he thought he was a goner.

After the war ended, Tory returned to Atlanta, and his career turned to business. He worked in sales and advertising, eventually landing in New York City and handling large national accounts at BBDO. It was an exciting time for advertising, which was finding a home in the new medium of television during its golden years. New mass audiences appreciated commercials, sponsors and popular game shows like "The $64,000 Question" where some of Tory's clients advertised.

In 1976, Tory migrated, as have scores of New Yorkers before and since, to Miami, lured by an attractive job offer. He found he loved the warm climate and all readily available to do.

"In New York, you had to travel to your weekend; in Miami, it's all outside your door," he explained.

Tory worked for General Development Corp (a.k.a. GDC), which was the largest community development company in Florida for a time. In 1985, he became his own boss, forming Bankers Financial Corporation, dedicated to managing investments for institutional clients.

Tory's first home was at 1865 Brickell Avenue, in Brickell Place I. In 1981 he moved to Brickell 25, a 37-unit building on 25th Road overlooking Biscayne Bay, where he still resides. It was here that Tory met Attorney Henry Taylor, who convinced him that residents needed to be proactive rather than reactive, and that a homeowners group of all the neighborhood condo owners could get a lot further at City Hall than just the few of them.

Henry Taylor's law firm drew up all the legal paperwork needed to form BHA, which was formally incorporated in 1990. Tory was the natural choice as its first president, a job that stuck. Among the early battles were preventing a low-cost housing development on Brickell, reducing jet ski noise and safeguarding against commercial encroachment.

Tory still works, connecting ambitious entrepreneurs with the right franchise to match their goals. Even as an octogenarian, he keeps working, he said, because he enjoys it, it keeps him young, and also, he half-jokes, to "maintain the standard of living to which I've grown accustomed."

That standard includes fine wine and food and at least once-a-year travel to a far-off destination, along with his partner of 23 years, Jo Ann O'Neill. They count more countries visited together than the many years they've been a couple, with their most recent "journey of discovery" a cruise of the Danube, with stops in most of the 10 countries bordering it.

Fittingly, Tory has long been a member of the International Food & Wine Society, having served on its board of governors. He was a member and officer of the Committee of 100, Miami Beach's group of prominent community leaders begun in 1925 by Northern and Midwestern industrialists making their winter home in Miami. No longer filling the power void it once found in South Florida, the organization now meets as a subgroup of the Historical Museum of Southern Florida, keeper of its rich archives.

Tory has long been a box holder for the annual Sony Ericsson Open on Key Biscayne since back when it was the Lipton. A tennis player himself, he enjoys as many of the matches as his schedule will allow. He is active in the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce as a Trustee, representing BHA on the New World Center Committee. He serves on the "MOV'N" Traffic Task Force sponsored by the county, and is in regular communication with public officials to resolve concerns important to the neighborhood. He stays with issues on behalf of BHA as long as it takes, some never-ending and some resolved, only to later resurface in need of re-fixing. Some never get satisfactorily resolved.

Tory and other Brickell residents formed the Brickell Neighborhood Political Action Committee in 1997 to address ongoing situations where the will and rights of neighbors were ignored. (Remember "Sly-Gate," union meetings on Brickell and the proposed "health clinic"?)

"The PAC could give representation for many residents of the Brickell neighborhood who were certainly stakeholders, but were not eligible to vote due to citizenship," Tory recounts. With a mission to support causes and candidates that align with Brickell neighborhood concerns, through PAC endorsements and financial contributions, "those residents could have a voice."

The PAC did prove to be more effective getting the attention of City Hall, and continues its work when important elections or issues come before Brickell voters. It will be active no doubt, in the upcoming mayoral race for City of Miami.

The most troubling part of his experience as a volunteer advocate for the neighborhood, Tory said, is the slow, unresponsiveness of City of Miami elected and career personnel who often seem to lack the commitment to get projects done, and done right, in a timely manner. But, always the seeker of balance and fairness, Tory also recognizes the huge challenge our municipalities and their public officials face in meeting the needs of so many diverse constituents.

Overall, for Miami, Tory remains, naturally optimistic. He thinks Miami can overcome her challenges, achieve her potential to be one of the world's great cities. It's only a matter of leadership. "Someone has to do it."

From BHA News, Fall 2008

Getting to know Ernesto Cuesta, Brickell steward
By Josie Gulliksen

Motivated to excel in business and in pleasure, Ernesto Cuesta, treasurer of the Brickell Homeowners Association, credits much of what he is today to being raised by a hard working family. Along with the value of character and responsibility, they taught him the "value of location-location-location," which influenced his decision to originally invest in property on Brickell Avenue in 1974.

Ernesto's Brickell roots run deep, with his grandmother having first invested in the area in the 1940s. Ernesto made a natural progression to getting involved in matters involving his home and neighborhood, and first attended Brickell Homeowners Association meetings in the 1990s. He later became directly involved in 2003 at the urging of association President Tory Jacobs. The two were regulars on the tennis courts, working out Saturday mornings.

"One morning Tory mentioned the position of treasurer was open and he urged me to take it on." That was nearly five years ago and Ernesto has remained in the position ever since.

"BHA is the advocate for the community and does a great job." Wearing his treasurer's hat Ernesto reported, "Financially, the BHA is very sound. With 'Mr. Brickell' Tory Jacobs at the helm, we are working to improve things for every resident in this area."

Aside from his BHA duties, Ernesto is also president of the condominium association at his building, The Metropolitan. He attributes the association's success and the contentment of its residents to "running it like a corporation where every resident is a stockholder." Like the BHA, Ernesto reports The Metropolitan is financially sound.

"No management company oversees us; we have our own employees. The developer turned over the association to the investors in 2001 and I became president in 2002," he chronicled. It's been a great investment and home ever since.

Professionally, Ernesto Cuesta is chairman of the Enterprises Group Corporation, a multi-faceted company that is involved in many business lines - construction, the aviation industry and real estate, to name a few. He's been chairman of the company since 1990.

Ernesto's days of tennis are over due to repeated injuries...not Tennis Elbow as you might guess, but because of chronic toe fractures-more than seven in just two years! He had to give it up, however, remaining active was still a priority.

At his doctor's recommendation, Ernesto took up the much gentler activity of walking. This soon progressed into running, however, and Ernesto was quickly immersed in the sport. In the year or so he's been running, Ernesto has entered two dozen races and has placed in the top 10 numerous times in his 45-49 year-old age category. He also ran this year's ING Half Marathon in January and plans to run it again in 2009. He says running is a great source of motivation and has also cured his feet. He no longer suffers from frequent toe fractures, and says he's in the best shape of his life.

Ernesto is equally devoted to Brickell, and always advocates in an effort to represent the desires of residents. He is particularly vocal about matters of quality of life and safety and ensuring that everyone's voice is heard. He's been an advocate for green space and for pushing officials to find ways to make Brickell safer for pedestrians.

Ernesto describes the one-of-a-kind Brickell corridor: "Like other great avenues in the world - Fifth Avenue in New York...Grand Villa in Spain - there is only one Brickell Avenue. The condominium associations along Brickell Avenue are not experiencing the foreclosure rates seen by others around town."

Each has foundations and distinctions that outlast even the worst of times. As a treasurer for two Brickell vital entities, that's rightfully a source of pride.