THE CITY OF Oakland is moving forward with an ambitious development plan that would essentially spend $40 million in taxpayer money to drive low-income people out of a primarily African American community.

As A.C. Thompson reports on page 13, developers want to put 1,500 housing units, overwhelmingly at market rate (condos starting at half a million dollars or more), in an industrial West Oakland area that was once owned by Southern Pacific Railroad. The whole thing looks a little hinky: a private developer bought the land, then sold some of it to a nonprofit that he helps control; the nonprofit then transferred the parcels to a for-profit spin-off run in part by officers of the tax-exempt organization.

Supporters point out that the neighborhood badly needs investment and revitalization. But plopping a few thousand yuppies in high-rise condos that will be sold because of their easy BART commute to downtown San Francisco isn't going to do much of anything for the low-income people who live there now. In fact, in 10 years most of them may well be gone.

The developers won't have to pay for any affordable housing, either. The few subsidized units that will be created are going to be underwritten by Oakland taxpayers, to the tune of $40 million.

The City Council has approved the first step in this project, but it needs to be defeated. Activists should make this an issue in next year's mayor's race.