Two Carlsbad residents who have spent years working tirelessly on behalf of the city have been named Carlsbad’s Citizens of the Year.

Lisa Cannon-Rodman and Jeff Segall were honored for their many efforts at improving the quality of life for all Carlsbad residents

The Citizen of the Year program is more than 40 years old and recognizes community members who have given their time and energy toward the civic improvement, beautification and betterment of the City of Carlsbad. This year’s honorees will be recognized during a ceremony at 3 p.m. on July 26 in the Council Chamber at Carlsbad City Hall, 1200 Carlsbad Village Drive followed by a small reception in the courtyard. The public is invited to attend.

Lisa Cannon-Rodman
Lisa Cannon-Rodman, a Carlsbad resident since 1983, serves as CEO of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation, a place she calls “The People’s Lagoon.”

She became involved in the community when her young son developed a love of swimming and she decided the city needed a second swimming pool. She organized like-minded neighbors and attended many City Council meetings to advocate for the project. Her son is now grown and coaches swimming and water polo at Carlsbad High School.

Cannon-Rodman was elected to the Carlsbad Unified School District Board of Trustees in 2002 and served for 12 years. She also chairs the board for Hospice of the North Coast and serves as the organization’s fund development chair, and is a member of the North County Philanthropic Council Programs Committee and Soroptimist International of Oceanside-Carlsbad.

“I want to lend a hand if needed,” Cannon-Rodman said. “If change is done thoughtfully and it is needed, I like to tackle those sorts of things. There are definitely sleepless nights, but my heart feels really full when something hard is accomplished and people can see the value in it.”

Jeff Segall

Jeff Segall served as a city planning commissioner for 14 years, acting as chair for three of them. He first served from 1998 to 2006. He was reappointed in 2014 and served for an additional six years.

As head of public affairs for Tri-City Medical Center, Jeff established and led the community business emergency response initiative for Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista and San Marcos businesses; co-founded the Ready Carlsbad Business Alliance; is a member of the city’s Community Emergency Response Team, a team of volunteers under the Carlsbad Fire Department trained to help the city in emergencies; and a sector chief with Infragard, an FBI-affiliated community organization that supports infrastructure protection.

Segall is currently president-elect of the Carlsbad Hi-Noon Rotary Club and is a board member of A Step Beyond, a creative youth services organization based in Escondido. He also sits on the Dean’s Advisory Council at California State University, San Marcos.

A Los Angeles native, Segall said he fell in love with Carlsbad because it’s a close-knit community that’s also a hub for world-class innovation.

“This is a big town, but it’s also a small beach town, so you get the best of both,” he said. You can have the business and the commercial, but it’s small enough where I can go to virtually any restaurant or store and bump into someone I know. Carlsbad is the best place to raise a family.”