Sorry you had to go through that. I really respect the approach that you took to handle it. I haven't dealt with the person you mentioned before directly myself, but I have heard a lot of other users complaining about the same user.

The solutions you are proposing are good ideas, but unfortunately I don't think they will end up being implemented. The reason is because for every 1 bad type of user like the one you reported, there are thousands of spammy and harrasive users looking to get their posts/comments seen.

The way the system is designed, new users that sign up and do spammy/harrasive things should get flagged and hidden as quickly as possible to minimize the harm they do to the users/community.

The real problem is that we have users like this (with a non-negative reputation) that are abusing the system and down-voting posts like yours for no legitimate reason. The 'longer term' solution to this is these types of people should get downvoted/flagged themselves, which will make their comments and votes hidden and worthless - thus negating the negative user.

Unfortunately though there is still some time where a user like this can do damage before the community notices and flags him. I think the best solution that we have for this right now, is hope that other users who this happens to are as mature as you, and handle it in such a way that lets the community respond and address the situation.