Rose reaffirmed he was not seeking reelection.
On his Facebook page, Rose posted Wednesday's article and stated: "It's the middle of a byelection for Parliament and the best they can do is b**** about this.
"Look, I have made this call for my mental health, it doesn't help that mediat [sic] journalists throw their own spin on it to cause s***.
"So if you have a problem, message me privately. You want to be a keyboard warrior, unfriend me and take a hike. I am as dedicated to this City as any of my fellow elected members."
The Bay of Plenty Times article attracted 68 comments as of early Thursday night, many of them opposing his decision and some calling for Rose to step down.
One subscriber expressed this opinion: "If you don't live in an area you cannot represent it properly. Resign, please."
In response, another was of this view: "There should be a law which makes moving out of the district a non-complying activity. Conclusion: Resign or be fired. Silly regulations, that this is even to be discussed. Non-sensical situation."
Another believed "no amount of spin" could make this right and that Rose should either live in and represent Christchurch or live in and represent the Bay of Plenty.
One commenter's view was that "this is ridiculous and this councillor should resign immediately and be replaced".
But one asked how Rose's situation was different to MPs not always living in their electorates, and another saw no issue with Rose's move as long as he was on top of local issues and zooming into meetings.
Rose said, in his view, people were making assumptions without reading the whole article.
He was adamant he would stay, telling the Bay of Plenty Times on Thursday: "There are going to be those people calling for my resignation. They will be told 'no' because I'm not breaking any laws. If they have an issue with it, they can take it up with the Local Government Minister."
Rose admitted he thought about stepping down but, "I've said to myself that I made a commitment when I swore that oath ... I will not back off because of that oath".
When elected members are inducted into their roles, each swears an oath to execute and perform to the best of their ability in the best interests of their electorate any powers and duties imposed upon them.
A regional councillor, with no additional responsibilities, is paid $61,525 a year.
Rose will continue to be paid by ratepayers until the end of the term which he said was fair because he was still carrying out his duties as a councillor and attending meetings via Zoom.
"There are a large amount of people calling for me to resign who need to hear these words: this would have never happened if someone else ran in 2019. If they don't like it, they should stand people in council seats."
In the 2019 elections, Rose won his seat unopposed and at age 19 became the youngest regional councillor in New Zealand. He said he would like to see more people engaged in local government, despite his decision not to stand again.
"For my constituents, I think there's a lack of care for what a councillor does. [People] don't understand what a councillor does, what a council does."
Regional council chairman Doug Leeder said although the legislation allowed Rose to live elsewhere, in his view, "morally, I can't defend it".
However, Leeder said there were only about three months left before this local government triennium ended with the elections. Given Rose's commitment to continue in his role, he expected Rose to fulfil his councillor duties in that short timeframe.
Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta was asked if she was considering repealing the legislation allowing elected members to attend council meetings virtually and her view on a councillor not living in the electorate they represented.
A spokeswoman said these were matters for the council to resolve.
