Anyone great or small on Hive has the right to vote how they want. period end of story. I still feel that there should be a balance mechanism for the down votes, that no one is immune to them either because of how much steem they have, or for the simple fact they have an account that only down votes.
I Do not feel you have a reason to apologize, but that is me. You were being transparent in what and how you planned on moving forward, and what you felt was wrong actions by a group of people. You were not going to sit on the sidelines of what you felt was an issue and developed a plan of action, that is more than most of us, myself included have done.
Thank you for your humble feedback too @bashadow.