By Pat Biancaniello
LI Loud Majority Co-Founder Kevin Smith will not be working for the Town of Smithtown. According to the town Mr. Smith withdrew his application for employment shortly after the January 31st Town Board meeting.
Smith was hired for a part-time position as an AV technician in the Department of Public Safety by the Town Board at its January 3, 2023 board meeting.
The Town Board to approve the following Personnel matters:
1. #21271 Part time appointment of Kevin W. Smith to the position of Audio Visual Production Specialist in the Department of Public Safety, at a rate of pay of $19.91 per hour, not to exceed 1/2 the normal work week, effective January 9, 2023.
The vote to hire was unanimous.
Supervisor Wehrheim at the Jan. 31 st board meeting stated that the position Smith was to fill would require him to film town events at town hall, parks, beaches, conduct interviews, possibly working behind the scenes at board meetings etc. He offered that Smith was not yet hired because a “comprehensive background check” by public safety had not yet been completed.
The January 3rd hiring of Kevin Smith triggered a reaction that no one saw coming. A very public and vocal January 28th protest on the front steps of Town Hall. Approximately 80 protestors carrying American flags and signs called on the Town Board to rescind Kevin Smith’s job offer.
Attendees were apalled that the board would hire a founding member of LI Loud Majority, a group that has been designated an anti-Government extremist group by Southern Poverty Law Center. Attendees spoke about interactions they experienced and witnessed including doxing incidents (releasing personal information over the web), mean spirited and hurtful comments made about Smithtown residents and intimidating and negative comments made about the LGBTQ communities on Smith’s podcast.
Smith addressed the concerns brought up by protesters on his podcast denying being involved in doxing.
In a follow up to the rally, about 15 people attended the January 31st Town Board Meeting; five people spoke up and urged the board to rescind the job offer. The first speaker Lisa Sevimli is from Patchogue. Ms. Sevimli presented documents she had collected and offered videos she had taken as proof that Smith did not deserve a position working for the Town of Smithtown. Upon learning that the application was withdrawn Sevimli expressed relief she emphasized Kevin Smith’s application withdrawal happened due to the efforts of decent people working together. “We are in a time where democracy matters and must be fought for.”
The job description is worrisome for Barbara Cogniglio, a Smithtown resident, who spoke out at the meeting about having her personal information posted on the web by members of, and fans of LI Loud Majority, as a response to a letter she wrote printed in Newsday. Ms. Coniglio made this comment about Smith withdrawing his application, “Although I am very glad and relieved that Mr. Smith withdrew his application to be the AV Specialist for the Town of Smithtown’s Public Safety Department, I am still disappointed in the unanimous approval vote by the Town Council in the first place. If Mr. Smith was properly vetted and interviewed, I am having difficulty believing that all Town Council members were unaware that he uses his Loud Majority podcast and social media to intimidate town residents who speak up against him, and to harass the LGBTQ community. “Kindness, empathy, and decency do matter and this is a victory for our community.” Barbara Coniglio, Smithtown resident.
Smithtown’s Democratic Chairperson Patricia Stoddard has been very vocal about the unanimous decision the board made hiring Kevin Smith, “Even though we had a victory in getting Kevin Smith off the payroll we still have a Smithtown Town Board who voted yes unanimously to give him a job in the first place! They should have had the backbone to do the right thing by changing their decision to NO instead of conveniently having Smith ‘decide not to take the position’.”
Mr. Smith did not respond to a request for a comment.