Tackling city budget will be tough to prosecute

Peter Carlisle was all about straight talk when he was Honolulu’s city prosecutor and we like the frankness we’re hearing from him so far as mayor.

Facing a projected $100 million budget shortfall, Carlisle says unpaid furlough days for city workers won’t do when it comes to lowering costs and maintaining services. He should know — his swearing-in had to be delayed because City Hall was closed due to furloughs.

Carlisle wants to end the practice. But restoring full work schedules will require cuts elsewhere — maybe in the workforce, maybe in services, maybe even in city workers’ wages.

In tough times, it’s a discussion that can’t be ignored and Carlisle deserves credit for addressing it head-on. Now, it’s time to walk the walk as well.

Holiday season upon us, so might as well enjoy it

Not to start a panic, but yes, it’s Dec. 2 today. Already.

Organized earlybirds will note this in ho-hum stride — but for procrastinators out there, you know that this is just the beginning of falling behind the curve.

The holiday hecticness can indeed get overwhelming — if you let it. So don’t let it. Enjoy, soak it all in: Hanukkah (which began at sundown yesterday); Christmas on the 25th; Kwanzaa (starting on the 26th). Then, of course, Jan. 1 provides the psychological boost to do it all again next year, fresh and new.