Aurora Votes 2026: Meet Your Council Candidates – Zivka Kicic, Ward 6

September 10, 2026 · 0 Comments

When Zivka Kicic came to Canada as a refugee, she did so with $100 in her pocket.

Studying hard and working hard, she built a life for herself and her family and found significant success as a realtor.

Now, she hopes to bring her financial acumen and eye to detail to the Town Hall as the next Councillor for Ward 6.

“I’m running for Council because Aurora residents deserve true financial transparency, not surprise deficits,” she says. “Over the last eight years, major Town projects have consistently missed their budget targets, leaving taxpayers to pick up the tab. I am running to end the culture of overspending and bring strict, independent oversight back to Town Hall.”

Kicic sat down with The Auroran last week at Aurora Town Square, a downtown redevelopment she cites as an example of costs going above and beyond what was originally budgeted.

Greater oversight, she says, is needed on municipal procurement and contracts.

Going for the lowest bidder isn’t always the best options for taxpayers if they can’t be delivered for the cost cited.

“I don’t understand how these companies are being picked,” she says of municipal contracts. “If we continuously choose companies based solely on the lowest bid, but those exact companies consistently deliver late and over-budget, is that truly what’s best for the Town? If we pick the lowest number, but then it ends up being $8 million over-budget, where maybe some other company with more realistic proposal and better track record might actually saved us millions in the long run.

“I’m not doing this for the money, and I’m not doing this because I’m bored, retired, or semi-retired – I feel I have to as a genuine obligation to this community. After the past eight years under the current leadership, it is time to change the Town’s direction. My 20 years of experience in real estate and contract negotiation tell me that Town business is not being handled the way it should be. The current overspending is unsustainable, and the decisions being made today are simply not benefiting the whole of Aurora.”

Ward 6 is a prime example of this, she says, as so much investment is being made on the “other side of the tracks” while northeast Aurora has been left behind.

“If our taxes are going up, that money should go toward things that actually help everyone. For example, I wouldn’t mind paying a bit more for windrow snow clearing, because that’s a real, tangible service residents can see right outside their door. What I do mind is paying more and getting nothing back for it. At the end of the day, the problem isn’t just that the town is spending money, it’s how poorly that money is being managed.

“It feels like Ward 6 has been left behind. It is being treated like a construction zone rather than a community. They keep building houses, but they’ve completely forgotten about cultural development and civic spaces. We don’t even have a dedicated branch of the Aurora Public Library over here, just a self-serve book machine. It’s time the Town starts investing in the people living here, not just the developers.”

Looking beyond issues specific to Ward 6 towards broader, community-wide issues, Kicic says she is concerned about affordability, job opportunities for residents, engaging neighbours in the issues that matter, and ensuring Council members have a voice at the table.

“If we want to change how things are done, we first need to look at removing Strong Mayor powers and restoring real council democracy,” she says. “The problem here, at least in my ward, is people don’t care, they’re not involved, and the main issue is how to get people involved. Even when I was getting the signatures [to register as a candidate] I walked my dog for two evenings about 15 minutes each and I got 25 signatures – but people don’t care about the politics. The issue isn’t that people don’t care about their Town; it’s that they are incredibly busy with work and life. The real challenge of this campaign is figuring out how to connect with these busy residents and get them out to vote.

“I am a deeply family-oriented, down-to-earth person who just wants what’s best for my family and my community. I genuinely feel for the younger generation today because they are being completely priced out of life. I want them to have a better future – the future that I had 30 years ago when I came.”

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter