Anna Falling

The event was attended by local media, local churches, individuals and other mayoral candidates.

Click HERE to see video from the event.

Click HERE to see posted video of this Press Conference.

Here’s a link to his video interview with Anna

Our great police force is so over-worked in this city, and what thanks do
they get for putting their lives on the line daily? They get put in the
middle of a political and divisive battle.

The real solution is to come alongside our community heroes with literally
hundreds of new volunteers and resources to help turn around the lives of
those trapped in the drug and alcohol cycle who honestly want a way out.

The only sector of our community that has the magnitude and fortitude to put
together special community outreaches to help juveniles on the brink and
those addicted to drugs and alcohol is the church. 

When I recently asked a Tulsa police sergeant how churches could best help,
he said to develop alternate programming for juvenile delinquents, who need
a change of environment to get out of this downward spiral. Most important,
he said, was for the churches to accept each youth as if they were one of
their own.

Tulsa’s churches, if invited into City Hall in force, could transform our
City’s brokenness by helping mentor before real problems arise. This in turn
reduces police, courts and juvenile costs, and sees lives transformed.

Our police officers deserve this kind of support!

The Protect the Police Initiative will help the police do their jobs without
interruption.  It consists of 5 key components:

1.      Protect the Police by protecting their budget by lowering associated
costs that can free up funds for direct police action.

Some of these savings can be summed up in the next 2 points.

2.      Protect the Police by transforming public drunks who have to be
locked up and released over and over again hundreds of times over the years.

2008 saw 3722 arrests for public drunkenness  and to date in 09 1,957.
Today we are joined by Steven my friend who has  a 10 page report back to
1996 (that’s as far back as computer records would go) outlining his
experience with the police due to public drunkenness and the many issues
that go along with that.  For the last 16 months Steven has had no issues
with the police because he has a church walking beside he is discovering his
purpose and he is now in a leadership role helping others walk through the
same things he has with a local Celebrate Recovery Group, meeting at First
United Methodist Church.  What a blessing he is to our community – A life
transformed from poverty to purpose — I am proud to call Steven my friend.

3.      Protect the Police by transforming juveniles who are being arrested
over and over again only to be freed to their parents.

In 2008 there were 1,423 arrests of juveniles and just from Jan – June,
there have already been 1,201 arrests.  A local church we work with brings
15 youth 3 times per week to the church for activities and fellowship from
Apache Manor complex.  They are opening their church doors for a game room
and refreshments for evenings and after school activities.  Another church
has planted a community garden and is designing a pizza kitchen and
basketball courts to provide a safe and positive environment for youth in
North Tulsa.

4.      Protect the Police by asking churches, civic groups and businesses
to raise funds to pay for each cop’s equipment through an adopt-a-cop
initiative.
Police are required to purchase some of their own equipment, nearly $1,000
of out-of-pocket expense.

5.      Protect the Police by prayer through the adopt-a-cop initiative.
This I believe is the most important to partner police officers and their
families with churches who will pray for their safety and success.

Citizens doing our part to protect those who protect us.

The mission of the church is to care for the people of this community and as Mayor I would welcome that mission. It is not to debate church and state, constitutions or politics, but to “bring life and bring it more abundantly.”  I want to celebrate the church for the work she has done, is doing and will continue to do long past this debate.

And as mayor, I want the churches involved in our community, working with government. The First Amendment never mentions the words “separation,” “church,” or “state.”

Our city is on the verge of collapse: spiritually, morally and financially. We are at a crossroads. And I have decided my campaign will focus on the scripture at the bottom of this post.

For the past 13 years our organization has worked tirelessly to provide the full strength of our resources to the church.  To date, our combined efforts have impacted and touched more than 161,000 lives.

We started with one medical clinic in an apartment in South Tulsa, a BBQ partnering 10 churches serving the residents of Fairmont Terrace and one mechanic repairing a few cars for single moms and the elderly.

We have grown and now equip and train more than 370 churches to host and run more than 10 medical clinics in underserved areas of Tulsa; we have two mobile units and conduct thousands of medical visits.

We have fixed more than 3,200 cars at four repair sites thanks to thousands of volunteer hours. We have added a 32,000-square-foot facility collecting furniture, cars, clothes, food and anything churches need to serve their community – all to honor the below scripture.

Within 60 days we were able to partner 1,200 Katrina survivors with churches, delivering furniture and necessary items to re-establish homes here in Tulsa for them.  Without the church in Tulsa reaching out with after-school and summer camp opportunities, many more youth would go without meals, supervision and safety.

I don’t think there is a constitutional amendment or a letter from Thomas Jefferson that says the church cannot serve the poor; help the police with juvenile delinquency by providing strategic activities for kids; or work with addicts; or read to a struggling child; or work with our minority communities to help them with business plans; or partner with our parks to keep pools open in areas of town that need healthy activities for our youth.

The church is the only largely untapped entity with the fortitude and the magnitude to address these concerns and many more.  It is my desire to help strategically map out the needs of the city and match the resources of a coalition of the willing, who will work with city government to make Tulsa a safer and more productive city.

It is the role of the church to help those less fortunate. It is the role of government to protect and help those less fortunate. Why can’t they work together for a common good?

In less than 48 hours, annafalling.com has received more than 2,500 visitors, primarily due to coverage of our rally at the Tulsa Zoo. We have published more than 40 comments – the majority of them negative – concerning that event. I believe every angle has been covered and we are therefore closing comments on that issue.

My views, my statements made there have not changed. We have tried everything and anything but God. And our violent crime rate is nearly twice the national average.

I intend to include God, I intend to include the churches and I intend to include government to find new and creative solutions to address our great city’s needs.

Thank you for your continued support as we work to Transform Tulsa Together.

⁶ “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness ^[a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

⁹ Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

The zoo is just one example where God has been dishonored. We have all observed other areas in our city where He is dishonored as well. Why is it we have no problem allowing in anything and everything except God?

I want to thank my supporters for your willingness to speak and stand for what you believe in.  I was humbled by your presence and look forward to a new day in Tulsa where we return to the roots of our nation and city’s foundation.

Without God, our great city will continue to experience nearly twice the national average in violent crime. We will continue to see police intervene in our schools to the tune of 9,000 incidents over the last 4 years.  We have all witnessed what happens in our cities when God is rejected.

Unless God builds our house it will be in vain. No amount of street repair, police on the streets and bigger, fancier buildings will change the heart of the people.  Unless we call upon God, our land will not be healed.

I stand firm on Seeking First God’s Kingdom and His Righteousness and then, all these things will be added .  Our City and our Nation is at a crossroads. We must decide where our help will come from.

As the comments posted throughout the site today suggest, there are many view points on this issue. Yet we will not be deterred for putting God first in all things. And yes, that means before streets and crime and budgets; because if we don’t put God first, then nothing else matters. Without God, nothing will be “fixed.” .

Thank you again for your prayers as we proceed to bring God back to our seat of government. As George Washington stated on Feb. 22, 1732, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible”

Update: Editor’s note: We would like to thank the dozens of commentors who pointed out the error concerning the date regarding George Washington’s statement. As they so kindly noted, Washington was born on that date, so it would be rather difficult for him to make such a statement. The error was due to transposing some dates in a final draft, and we apologize.