CARLSBAD -- Two real estate agents known for their generosity to local nonprofit organizations and a woman who led a successful effort to pass a city growth-control ballot measure decades ago have been selected as Carlsbad's 2007 Citizens of the Year.

Carlton and Sandy Lund, and Jeanne McFadden will be honored during a Sept. 16 ceremony at City Hall.

McFadden, 75, arrived in Carlsbad in the early 1970s and initially became active in the League of Women Voters.

"I really wanted to register voters and that's what I've done the most for the league," she said. "I think people should definitely have a voice and informed voting is one of the most important things we Americans can do."

From voter registration drives, McFadden turned to school-related projects. Her kids were in band, and she helped Carlsbad Unified School District obtain bond money to build a cultural arts center after the district had failed for many years to win voter approval for major construction projects, she said.

The experience she gained helped her when she led the effort in 1986 to pass the city-sponsored ballot measure known as Proposition E, McFadden said. The ballot measure, which faced competition from a citizens-sponsored initiative, placed limits on the number of dwelling units that could be built in town and put new requirements on housing developers.

Voters passed both propositions, but McFadden's city-sponsored one received more votes and because it contained a "killer" clause, it took precedence over the citizens' group proposal. Bitterness over that election remains among some longtime residents, and McFadden said Friday that she doesn't talk publicly about it much.

In addition to her political work, McFadden helped establish the Agua Hedionda, Batiquitos and Buena Vista Lagoon foundations. She also served two terms on Carlsbad's Planning Commission, eight years on the Carlsbad Parks and Recreation Commission, and 10 years on the city's Citizen of the Year Committee. The second year after she stepped down from the group, she has been selected as one of the honorees.

"I'm very surprised to put it mildly," she said.

Carlton Lund, 60, and his wife, Sandy, 51, have been nominated 11 times and finally got an award this time.

"I guess I should have been on the committee," he said, laughing.

Carlton Lund arrived in Carlsbad in 1972 and promptly bought a condo along Carlsbad Boulevard the first day. He still recalls the address, though he sold it years ago.

He joined the local real estate business in the 1980s, and after marrying Sandy in 1984, the two became "The Lund Team."

Carlton, who said he is so good at the real estate game Monopoly that his children stopped playing with him years ago, has turned his real estate sales ability into cash for local nonprofit groups.

He and his wife been big donors to the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the Hospice of the North Coast, the Kids Are Worth a Million school fundraising group, the North Coast Boy Scouts and the Carlsbad Boys & Girls Clubs.

They were the first to contribute $100 to the campaign to get the Legoland California amusement park to locate in Carlsbad and sponsored visits for 25 children with cancer on opening day, he said.

One of Lund's more unusual fundraisers was to take $51 worth of scrap metal from the former Split Pavilion -- a waterfront sculpture that was so unpopular it was torn down years ago -- and cut it into chucks as memorabilia. He made $5,000 in that sales effort.

He also likes to tell people that his wife, who has training as a nurse, won a lifesaving commendation from President Bush for saving a baby from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, but he's the dog poop cleanup guy. He's known around town as "Mr. Clean" for his commitment to cleaning up dog waste and trash from the city's coastal walkway. It's something he's been doing ever since he first bought that condo back in 1972, he said.

These days, he's got a new project -- energy conservation. They couple have turned their real estate office into a "green" facility and he's working with the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce to encourage other businesses to reduce, reuse and recycle, he said.

Carlsbad has been selecting Citizens of the Year since 1986. Last year's recipients were Planning Commissioner Julie Baker and local volunteer Ed Scarpelli.

Contact staff writer Barbara Henry at (760) 901-4072 or bhenry@nctimes.com.