Housing scandal: Henry Alvarez offers to go away quietly

Now maybe some sense can be made of Mayor Ed Lee’s and the Board of Supervisors’ trying so hard to talk around the scandal that has engulfed housing authority director Henry Alvarez. He announced Friday (the day of the week when these things usually happen) that he’s requested a leave of absence and implies that he won’t renew his contract when it expires this summer.

Translation: I’ll go away quietly without causing more fuss if you let me stay on the payroll long enough to collect a CalPERS pension for life.