I don’t believe I have ever been more upset than when I read the “Guest Opinion” by Jim Bruno in Jan. 26 Acorn. For him to use phrases like “the jury of public opinion delivered its final verdict” or “what I heard from the voice of democracy” or better yet, “[t]he people have spoken. . .” flies in the face of the facts, rewrites history and is an insult to the intelligence of all Westlake Village residents who followed this process.

The only thing that happened last week was that a proposed amendment to a development plan didn’t get the needed three votes to pass.

There was no vote by Westlake Village residents, no reliable poll of residents that I know of showing that more residents were against the project than for it or anything else demonstrating that a majority of the residents supported the council’s decision.

Sure, there were more people who spoke against the proposal than for it during the town meetings (which, of course, were not designed to gauge public opinion) and during the final council meeting.

And, if you believe that intimidation, the spreading of misinformation and espousing a belief that what makes this community great can be destroyed by the building of a nicely designed shopping area in a relatively remote area of the city are reliable indicators of a majority of the public’s sentiments, then the opponents surely had the proponents beat and maybe Mr. Bruno is right.

For some reason Mr. Bruno feels the need to invent facts and ignore the many residents who were in favor of the proposal to avoid taking responsibility for his own decision.

I just wish that the next time Mr. Bruno intends to base a decision solely on the majority of those who come to speak at council meeting or write him letters, and not with respect to the community as a whole, that he tell us ahead of time and we can all act accordingly. Steven Peña Westlake Village