The publication of correspondence between Supervisor Mark Lovelace and Eureka kazillionaire Rob Arkley sparked a heated national debate: Did Lovelace once give the finger to Security National VP Randy Gans or did he not? Lovelace says that he did not. Arkley says that he did. The NewsHour’s Jim Lehrer will moderate.

But, ho – another LoCO exclusive! Into the fray steps a witness to the fateful November event. More than a witness, actually: This person says that he, and not Lovelace, was the person who drew the middle finger. Are you ready for this?

Step forward former Bonnie Neely campaign manager Josh Drayton.

To set the stage, let’s note something that all of us completely missed yesterday. The night? Election night. Arkley’s J’accuse was delivered Nov. 3, the morning after Neely was defeated by Eureka Mayor Virginia Bass. If it wasn’t already apparent to you, the recent e-mail exchanges published by the LoCO conclusively prove that Neely – a six-term incumbent – was not Team Arkley’s preferred candidate. Spirits were running high upon her loss.

So, the way Drayton tells it is this. It was late at night. Speeches of victory and speeches of defeat had all been delivered. Time to close up shop. Drayton and Lovelace were the only ones left at Neely campaign headquarters on Third Street. Meanwhile, the victorious “conservatives” (or “moderates,” if you are a conservative) were shuttling back and forth between Avalon, where the Bass campaign was getting down, and Sea Grill, where the next Eureka City Councilmember from the Third Ward, Mike Newman, was holding court. The route between the two ragers happened to pass right in front of the glum scene at Neely HQ.

Among the revelers: Gans and his crew. According to Drayton’s account, they directed their jubilation straight at the large, mostly empty windows of the losing team’s hollow headquarters, which framed only the figures of the two men left with the sad task of cleaning up after a non-victory celebration.

“They come rolling down, and Randy Gans and all these other people were cheering out in front of our headquarters,” Drayton exclusively told the LoCO. “They were on their way down from Avalon and cheering, and I was like, dude, fuck these people.”

Whereupon, Drayton says, he unleashed the bird with righteous fury.

Lovelace, he continues, was completely innocent of such behavior, and reprimanded his colleague immediately. To Drayton’s recollection, the supervisor’s precise words were: “Dude, you can’t be doing that.”

But Drayton is without remorse.

“So if they want to talk about taking the high road, and how all their communication is respectful — that’s ridiculous,” he told the LoCO (exclusively). “It was just rubbing our noses in it. Completely immature. So maybe my response was just giving that back a little bit? Sure. But I don’t take back the sentiment.”