Gould upends Whitaker for Cloverdale school board seat

When the Cloverdale School Board meets in January, a new face will be on the board. 

After several attempts in the past, Republican Aragon Gould defeated Vivian Whitaker for a spot on the Cloverdale School Board. Whitaker, who did not claim a party affiliation, had served as board president and on the board since 2014. 

"I am excited to bring my experience to bear to continue to drive Cloverdale to greater heights. I am so thankful for all of my wonderful supporters, especially my wife, Jenny Gould. Their support means so much to me. I am very grateful for Ms. Whitaker's years of service and hope to build on it. Finally, I am so thankful for our community of Cloverdale and am excited to get to work on making them proud," Gould told The Putnam County Post. 

Gould pointed to several factors that made this election different from his past attempts. 

"I think exposure I have had over the last six years helping run the Cloverdale Youth League, coupled with me being involved across the community has helped to introduce my approach to a lot more people. I also think my message resonated with a lot of folks. We have a great school corporation, but need to hear the parents more and we have an even greater upside," said Gould, adding he got a lot of positive feedback for his platform and believed it resonated with voters. 

In addition, he said the opportunity for school board candidates to claim a party affiliation could have helped. 

"I also suspect there was some that gravitated to my Republican stance. Being affiliated with a party I am sure helped for voters that, perhaps, didn't know either of us," Gould said.