Locals told no Neverland burial planned for Michael Jackson

Neverland Ranch's 2,676 acres gleam like gold. William Etling photo.

Colony Capital’s fearless leader, Tom Barrack, has personally announced he has no plan to make the ghost ranch formerly known as Neverland a West Coast Graceland.

Colony Capital opened what they now call Sycamore Valley Ranch’s doors to a select group of influential Santa Ynez Valley movers and shakers  at 3:45 pm on Thursday, July 9. Visitors parked at the Figueroa Mountain Road gates and rode into the sprawling 2,676 acre ranch on jolly red trolleys.

After a sumptuous dinner  of pork and cajun sausage, watermelon, and tomatoes with mozzaarella  cheese, complemented by Barrack’s own fine wines from his Happy Canyon vineyard nearby, Barrack himself assured the chosen few that there were no plans to bury Michael Jackson there, or make the place a museum devoted to the former King of Pop.

“Then why don’t you just announce that, and we can get back our peace and quiet,” asked Dorothy Alter, whose family has raised cattle on their Rancho Cielo up on Figueroa Mountain for decades.

“It was a tour of the whole thing,” Dorothy Alter said in an exclusive interview Friday morning, July 10. “They had two trolleys from Santa Barbara. He had a young man that stood up like a tour guide and went all through it. Then he served us dinner, a really nice dinner. I don’t know how many people were there, a hundred maybe.”

“(Judge) Rick Brown, and the guy that’s the head of Los Olivos Rotary, and some people from the Vintner’s Association were there,” Mrs. Alter said. “After dinner, Barrack opened it up to questions. I said I’ve lived here too many years, and I’ve been through all of these things up there, Liz’s wedding, and the trial, and birthdays, and everything, and I said you know we don’t particularly want to see this continue.

“According to Barrack, if he’s speaking straight, and he appeared to be, he’s going to turn around and resell it,” continued Dorothy Alter. “He has no desire to turn it into a Graceland, even though he’s done his homework and he knows what Graceland makes. I mean this is a guy who knows what dollars are. He said basically it’s going to stay the same. All those people are going to come whether he wants them there or not. The news media has pin-pointed this place and asked the question, ‘Do you think he ought to be buried there?’ And of course they can’t bury him there without making it a cemetery district.”

The ranch is in three assessor’s parcels today, which might help with a future lot split. “Barrack said the whole ranch is in three (assessor’s) parcels, so it could eventually be spit in three (legal) parcels. But as far as Barrack was concerned, it would stay as it is,” said Alter.

Barrack sets a fine table. “We had pork, and cajun sausage, and watermelon, and tomatoes with mozzarella  cheese. Barrack wine was all over the tables. After I asked the question, he was standing around with various people. I went over and talked to him again,” said Dorothy Alter. “I said I hope I can believe you, and he said, Yes, I could.”
 
The event was over three hours long. “We went out at quarter to four, and we didn’t leave there until 7:30. We walked through the house. The house is totally empty. They took everything out of it. I was really impressed with the seats in the theater, they are so soft,” said Mrs. Alter.

The ranching family due west of Neverland got an invite. “Fred and Johanna Chamberlin were on the trolley with me,” said Dorothy Alter. “Fred had been up there many times. Fred wanted to know, What do you have in mind? because Fred’s telling Barrack it’s basically Fred’s road out here. There are other ways to get in, up on Foxen Canyon Road, you could go through Fess Parker’s vineyard without disturbing everybody here, but of course Foxen Canyon wouldn’t like it.

“Anyhow, it was an interesting evening. I don’t know how he chose the people to be there. They’re having another one this morning,” said Dorothy Alter.

Fortune Magazine profiled SY rancher Tom Barrack in their Oct. 31, 2005 issue. The article was headlined "King of Real Estate - I'm Tom Barrack and I'm Getting Out."

"Arguably the best real estate investor on the planet, he runs a $25 billion portfolio of trophy assets, from the Raffles hotel chain in Asia to the Aga Khan's former resort in Sardinia to Resorts International, the largest private gaming company in the U.S. Barrack's Colony Capital, one of the largest private equity firms devoted solely to real estate, has racked up returns of 21 percent annually since 1990, handing investors, chiefly pension funds and college endowments, 17 percent after all fees. Barrack bought the Fukuoka Dome, Japan's Yankee Stadium, in part because he calculated that the titanium in the retractable roof was worth as much as the purchase price," wrote Shawn Tully.

From Forbes: "Real estate kingpin attended U. of Southern California. Studied law at U. of San Diego, became international finance attorney. Worked on real estate side of Robert Bass' investment firm. Founded Colony Capital 1991. Made first fortune buying up bad real estate loans from struggling S&Ls. Today firm manages $25 billion. Invests in businesses with underlying real estate assets: casino (Station Casinos), hotels (Costa Smeralda in Sardinia). In May bought $23.5 million mortgage of Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch from Fortress Investment Group, brought financially troubled pop star to negotiation table."

Barrack has owned various ranches in the Santa Ynez Valley for decades. When Barrack was a deputy under-secretary in the Department of the Interior in the Reagan administration in 1983, Barrack's former boss, James Watt, literally rode off into the sunset on a horse after announcing his resignation to reporters at Barrack's Refugio Road ranch, later owned by tennis star Jimmy Connors. It happened just a few miles down a dirt road from the big boss' place, President Reagan's Rancho del Cielo.

UPDATE: At 5 pm PDT on Friday, after perusing this article, sources familiar with the plans for the ranch forwarded the following statement, including this: “We have no current plans for the property and we have not accepted or rejected any options.”

"Statement Concerning Neverland Plans - In the midst of chaos we all search for clarity:
1. Burial - At the request of the Jackson family, we investigated with the State of California and Santa Barbara County the possibility of interring Mr. Jackson at Neverland.  It was preliminarily determined that it would be a long, complex process which could not be culminated within the tight time periods required.  Colony has not been a party to current family discussions with regard to Michael's final burial spot.

2. Future of Neverland - Colony is not currently seeking approvals for a Graceland or Graceland-type option.  As you can imagine, plans and thoughts have dramatically changed since Michael's death and we will take time, thought and continued consultation with all concerned parties before any action will be considered.  We have no current plans for the property and we have not accepted or rejected any options.  The only plan we have at this moment is the continued stewardship, renovation and rejuvenation of this unique asset through its transition.  We are not in a hurry and if we do a good job of this and conduct ourselves as a good neighbor in a beautiful valley, the rest will take care of itself.

3. Public Safety and Community Cooperation - Local cooperation from the CHP, Sheriff, Fire Department, County regulatory agencies, emergency services and local neighbors and residents has been exemplary and greatly appreciated and admired by the global viewing community during this explosive event.

4. Fans and Traffic - Neverland was the home of Michael Jackson.  People from all over the world will continue to come, if only to see a closed gate.  This is a reality.  The manner in which we as a community of diverse interests handle the situation will take time, thought and elegant minds."
 
For more info: Read Wiliam Etling's Sideways in Neverland: Life in the Santa Ynez Valley search.barnesandnoble.com/Sideways-in-Neverland/William-Etling/e/9780595811441/