Last modified: Sunday, December 31, 2006 12:44 AM EST Local officials hope for more aid BY JIM HAND and GLORIA LaBOUNTY SUN CHRONICLE STAFF If local officials and social service providers had their way, Deval Patrick would concentrate as governor on increasing local aid, addressing the high cost of housing, and improving education. The governor would do that while setting a new tone of cooperation and hopefulness, they said. "His campaign slogan was 'Together We Can.' I hope we can build relationships so we can say, 'Together We Did,' " incoming state Rep. Jay Barrows of Mansfield said. Although Barrows is a Republican and Patrick is a Democrat, Barrows said he believes the two sides will work cooperatively on issues they agree on. "Bringing people together, reaching out and working with the legislative body, maintaining fiscal restraint and finding ways of improving state government. That is what I'd like to see," he said. Barrows said if Patrick sought his advice, he would tell him to set his priorities on increasing state aid to cities and towns and improving the business climate in Massachusetts. State Sen. James Timilty, D-Walpole, said he also would make state aid the top priority. Every city and town in his district needs more state aid to fund services and improve schools, he said. If Patrick is looking for ways to save money to free up more state aid, Timilty said he should look at the way the courts assign public defenders to the poor. He said court officials tell him that there are some people who know how to work the system to get free legal representation when they should be paying for it themselves. But most of all, Timilty said he is looking forward to the new tone and style Patrick will bring to the Statehouse. "I go into this new term with a significant amount of excitement, maybe more than when I first took office," he said. Timilty did not originally support Patrick, but said he is impressed with how much time the governor-elect spent in the Attleboro area and his willingness to reach out to all sides. Patrick also will dedicate his full attention to the job of governor and not go looking for a federal position, as so many of his predecessors have. "You can't be applying for another job while you're doing this one," Timilty said. Dot Embree, president of the Attleboro Area Homeless Coalition and executive director of the Attleboro Area Council of Churches, said if she had a few moments with the governor-elect, she would talk to him about state subsidies for housing. More state funding is needed to help get people into apartments, and to help keep them there, she said. Someone trying to get into an apartment may have to come up with as much as $2,100 for the first month's rent and the security deposit, and for getting the utilities turned on, she said, while those who are already in apartments sometimes need help paying the rent. The coalition has already gone through the $15,000 it received in federal money this year, plus thousands more in donations, yet is still getting plenty of calls from people who need rental assistance. "A lot more is needed," Embree said. Jonathan Carlson, executive director of Self Help Inc., the agency that provides fuel assistance in most area communities, said affordable housing is a major issue in this state. Carlson said his agency cannot deliver services if people have no roof over their heads. Fuel assistance is one way of offsetting the high cost of housing, Carlson said, and he would ask the new governor to provide consistent state funding for those programs each year to supplement the federal allocations, which this year are being reduced by a third. The state, he said, should also focus on early education and child care programs for low-income families. "That is a huge priority," Carlson said.