Saying he wants to move more aggressively on projects to revitalize blighted neighborhoods, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Monday announced he was overhauling the Community Redevelopment Agency’s Board of Commissioners.

Villaraigosa named six new appointees to the seven-member CRA board, including Bruce Ackerman, president and chief executive of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley. Living wage advocate Madeline Janis-Aparicio was the only appointee of former Mayor James Hahn to remain.

In a statement, Villaraigosa said his appointees “bring the breadth and depth of experience needed to aggressively move important projects forward.”

Also nominated: William Jackson, partner with real estate law firm Percher Nichols & Meeks LLP; Joan Ling, executive director of the Community Corp. of Santa Monica, a non-profit housing developer; John Perez, political director for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 324; architect Mark Rios, who also is director of the USC Architecture Program; and Brenda Shockley, president of Community Building Inc., a non-profit community development corporation.

The nomination of Perez, along with the decision to retain Aparicio, reinforces a strong pro-union voice on the CRA board, which has in recent years moved to negotiate community benefits packages including living wage guarantees and local hiring pledges on redevelopment projects.

Each nomination requires City Council approval.