The Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association announced on Wednesday morning the debate was canceled over disagreements with the Harris County Democratic Party

The Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association (HPFFA) announced Wednesday afternoon it has agreed to participate in a debate with Mayor Sylvester Turner about pay parity between the local police and fire departments.

On Wednesday morning, the HPFFA had announced that its president, Patrick M. ‘Marty' Lancton, would not participate in the debate, which is scheduled for Saturday, due to disagreements with the Harris County Democratic Party (HCDP) which is organizing the event.

The HPFFA said in a statement obtained by News 88.7 that "the Harris County Democratic Party failed to set ground rules that would have checked Mayor Sylvester Turner's influence over the event."

@FirefightersHOU has withdrawn from the scheduled debate on Proposition B after the Harris County Democratic Party failed to set ground rules that would have checked Mayor Sylvester Turner's influence over the event. Please see attached news release. pic.twitter.com/FJKbynI4Gy — Houston Firefighters (@FirefightersHOU) October 3, 2018

The statement detailed that the Harris County Democratic Party “rejected a HPFFA request to directly address precinct chairs so they could vote on whether the county Democratic Party should support firefighters and Proposition B.”

However, a statement sent around 4:30 p.m. announced that “after working through a variety of miscommunications” the HPFFA had agreed to take part in the debate about Proposition B.

Lancton thanked the HCDP for “further clarifying the ground rules of the Prop B debate.” “Fairness of the debate and the inclusion of the precinct chairs in this process are priorities for us. The precinct chairs deserve to be as involved as possible in the debate,” the HPFFA president added.

The debate will take place this Saturday, October 6, from 10 to 11 a.m. and will be live-streamed by the HCDP.

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