Smithtown hires Long Island Loud Majority leader Kevin Smith despite protest

The Smithtown Town Board on Thursday hired the founder of a controversial local right-wing activist group after a protest earlier in the day against the impending move.

Kevin Smith, the founder of the Long Island Loud Majority, was hired part-time as a public relations assistant for Town Supervisor Ed Wehrheim’s office at a pay rate of $43 per hour.

The all-Republican, five-member town board voted 3-0 to hire Smith. Board members Tom Lohmann and Lisa Inzerillo abstained at the 2 p.m. board meeting.

Shortly after 1 p.m., roughly 25 people had gathered in front of Town Hall to protest the hiring. Several held signs with messages reading "Keep MAGA out of public service," "Smithtown Says No to Extreme Kevin Smith," and "Mr. Wehrheim Stop the Cronyism."

“We do not comment on personnel hiring,” Wehrheim said after the meeting.

Smith and the Long Island Loud Majority did not return requests for comment Wednesday or earlier Thursday.

The day before the hiring, Phyllis Hart, chair of the Smithtown Democratic Party and a member of the civic group We Are Smithtown, criticized the board’s decision to hire Smith, citing social media posts attributed to him. 

As an example, Hart cited one on Smith's X page: "Leave it to annoying white ladies to protest in a Target ... next will be Home Goods."

Hart said Wednesday the Smithtown Democrats and the civic group were trying to “rally the troops” against his hiring. “We don’t need this in our community," Hart said. "We don’t.”

Hart was at the protest Thursday, as was Kristy Phillips, of Saint James. 

Phillips, who said she's been in marketing "for years," cited social media posts from Smith as one reason she believed he was unqualified.

"There are college grads here who could use the position. There are other people who have been laid off in this economy who have marketing and communication experience who would be perfect for this position, and they're not even being considered for this position," Phillips said. 

It's not the first time the board agreed to hire Smith. It did so in January 2023, when he was hired as a part-time audio-visual production specialist at a salary of $19.91 per hour, Newsday previously reported. That decision also sparked a protest from residents. While Smith was offered the position, he did not accept, Wehrheim told Newsday in 2023.

Smithtown Town Board member Lynne Nowick said Wednesday that she was not aware that Smith's hiring was on the agenda until earlier that day. She said that in 2023, his hiring was "not an issue to me."

Board member Tom McCarthy said Wednesday in a text he does not discuss personnel matters in advance of a vote.

Lohmann, reached Wednesday, declined to comment on employee hires and directed comment to the town attorney or the town's personnel director. Inzerillo did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday or Thursday.

Jesse Phillips of We Are Smithtown, who ran last November for town board as a Democrat, said Wednesday the town’s decision to hire Smith was “frustrating” and akin to a “patronage job” due to Smith’s support of Wehrheim during his campaign.

“If this was a job that was already vacant and we needed to hire for, then it should be put out as a competitive job,” said Phillips, who couldn’t attend the rally but opposed the town’s decision to hire Smith. “It should be a competitive job, not given to a party loyalist.”

A message left for Suffolk County Republican Party chair Jesse Garcia was not returned. 

Check back for updates on this developing story.