By Zack Anchors

Staff Writer

    The South Portland City Council is considering
closing a loophole in the city’s ordinance that has allowed a man with
a background of criminal and civil violations to operate a
transportation service for disabled people without a taxicab license.

    Donald McInnis, owner of a business called Mobile
Med, was not required to obtain a taxicab license due to a definition
of taxicabs in the city ordinance.

    That definition excludes “vehicles used to transport
people who are in wheelchairs or otherwise mobility impaired.”

    “I don’t know why the definition was written that
way 20 years ago,” said South Portland Corporation Counsel Mary Kahl,
who was tipped off to McInniss’ business by the City of Portland’s
legal department.

    Police Chief Ed Googins said he was “shocked” to
learn that under current ordinance the city could not prevent McInnis
from operating his business.

    Among the violations in McInnis’ past are convictions for forging a taxicab license, assault and burglary.

    In the last five years his license has been suspended twice and he has incurred 12 traffic violations.

    But McInnis says that his business provides a valuable service for less advantaged people in the city.

    "There's going to be an awful lot of elderly people in wheelchairs very unhappy," he said.

    McInnis said he believes the city is trying to
impose "Big Brother-like" rules and punish him unfairly for his
background.

    "I paid my debt to society," he said. "Do I keep paying it for the rest of my doggone life?"

    According to a flyer produced by the company, Mobile
Med “is one of Maine’s premier providers of wheelchair transportation.
We provide non-emergency medical transportation for you and your
clients in a safe, cost effective, and comfortable manner to and from
almost any location, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”

    Members of the South Portland City Council, who have
scheduled a second reading on an amendment to the ordinance, advised
residents to be cautious of Mobile Med, but said the ordinance change
was not targeted only at one company.

    “This is not about one person,” said Councilor
Claude Morgan. “But this is a bad player. And there are important
public-safety issues here. So please remember that name—Mobile Med.”

    The amended ordinance will include a definition of
“medical transportation vehicles” which would require McInnis, and
others operating similar businesses, to obtain a taxicab license.

    Exceptions include non-profit organizations that meet several conditions laid out in the ordinance.

    The second reading on the ordinance change will take
place at the Nov. 20 council meeting and will include a public hearing.


    If approved, the amended ordinance will go into effect the day after.

    “I'm going to fight it,” McGinnis said.