Bill Coombs, Independent candidate for House District 89, is a man of many talents.

Coombs lives with his sons, Thomas, 13, and Quincy, 10, in Edgecomb. He has lived on the Boothbay peninsula since 1991, when he moved here from the Rockland/Thomaston area, where he lived since early childhood.

He is co-owner of All Set General Contracting, a business whose services include carpentry, landscaping and stonework. Before All Set, he owned and operated the Body Holiday Day Spa on Oak Street in Boothbay Harbor.

“I went from working on people to working on buildings,” Coombs said. “I like working outside and it’s important that I have a job where I can be available for my kids.”

His dedication to his sons comes through in scheduling this newspaper interview at Skidompha Library at 2:30 on a Tuesday afternoon. He settles his younger son at a desk in the library before the interview starts; and after it’s over, he heads off to pick up his other son at school and then on to football practice, which he coaches.

At 42, Coombs, dressed in polo shirt and jeans, is well-groomed and obviously fit. He has been both a football player and a ballet dancer, an actor and a director in local theater, and is a man deeply involved with raising his children. He substitute teaches in local schools, coaches middle school football for a Lincoln County club team on which both of his sons play, and is a mentor in the Maine Odyssey of the Mind Program, a creative problem solving program for school age kids.

Coombs said his children are his prime motivation for running for the legislature.

“I love this area and I want them to stay in this area,” Coombs said. “But there are not a lot of job opportunities that would allow them to do that. Either I complain or I put my money where my mouth is.”

Building sustainable communities and creating a pro-business environment are the core of his platform, he said.

“This is not a business friendly state. Tax levels are way too high for small businesses,” Coombs said. “We need to change that atmosphere. We also need to redirect some corporate welfare to give incentives to small businesses that fit with the community.”

Not surprisingly, education is high on his list of priorities. He has received the endorsement of the Maine Education Association. Coombs said he is disappointed that the state has still not lived up to its 55 percent education funding obligation and will work to see that it finally does. He thinks the success of the business community is tied to better education and thinks the charter school push is hurting public schools.

“I think of education as pre-K through adult ed. There needs to be continuing job training for people as they make life transitions and more options locally for that,” Coombs said.

When questioned about the LePage’s administration’s focus on welfare fraud, Coombs said he agreed that fraud needed to be addressed and that EBT card use should be restricted.

“I feel it (welfare) has its place but it shouldn’t be a crutch or a way of life,” Coombs said.

But he also called the state’s million dollar contract with the Alexander Group for a welfare study, “a waste of taxpayers’ money” and said he supported the MaineCare extension that was vetoed by LePage last year.

Regarding the increasing consolidation of healthcare services across the state, Coombs said he is concerned about the changes both at St. Andrews and Miles Memorial Hospital and about health insurance.

“We really need to look at both and see where we are going. Especially when these groups get tax breaks but don’t provide services the community needs.”

If elected Coombs said he will work to resurrect Sen. Chris Johnson’s food hub bill, restore the property tax circuit breaker program to its former level and implement 55 percent state funding for education.

Coombs said he hears a lot of concerns from voters about partisanship in Augusta.

“It’s not about who’s going to work for the community, it’s about party agenda,” Coombs said. “Great bills go down because of politics and how frustrating is that?”

Locally, Coombs has already felt a little partisan sting. The Great State Debate, the Opera House forum where state candidates have an opportunity to be heard in Boothbay Harbor, was canceled this year in part because organizers said there was no democratic candidate running for the House 89 seat.

“I keep hearing there’s not really a race this year because the two parties don’t have candidates,” Coombs said. “I’m here and I’m running to represent the community.”