Panel With Almost Impossible Mission : Seven good men and women are asked to tackle Los Angeles’ housing crisis

The seven members named to the new Affordable Housing Commission add up to a mixed bag of knowledgeable housing advocates and inexperienced neophytes who must help build a strong city policy that responds to the current housing crisis. Will they be able to do that?

The stakes are high. As many as 300,000 poor families live in crowded, squalid and slum-like conditions in Los Angeles. They are spending more than half their meager incomes on rent for marginal dwellings, but can expect little help in the way of new assistance from the federal government and only modest aid from state housing programs.

The combination of great need and scarce resources poses a daunting challenge for the new commission. Another challenge is the board’s lack of clout. The commission is advisory; it cannot approve or reject projects nor can it hire and fire officials in the new housing department. Because of its advisory nature, several developers argue that the panel needs the best housing minds--major players with muscle who have done numerous deals from concept to completion.

But most major players in the housing field were ruled out, because they have done deals with the city and the mayor wanted to avoid the possibility of conflicts of interest under the new ethics ordinance. The appointments were made by Mayor Tom Bradley and City Council President John Ferraro. So the precaution is warranted, but it will require the new commissioners to consult outsiders who have broader expertise before hammering out the details of their programs.

Even so, the appointees include several inspired choices. Few housing advocates are as knowledgeable or tenacious as Charles Elsesser Jr., a lawyer who has taken the time to learn housing and to lobby for solid programs and is a housing aide to state Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angles). Another appointee, Paul R. Ash, head of the Park La Brea Tenants and Residents Assn., knows which policies help renters, who make up 60% of the city’s residents.

Also worth noting are Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker, a neophyte nonprofit housing developer and veteran community organizer, and John E. Huerta, a lawyer with expertise in redevelopment law. Those appointees enhance the ethnic and gender balance of the board, now fairly representative of the city.

Together, they must oversee the city’s new housing department and find ways to create and preserve affordable housing. It won’t be easy.