SOUTH PORTLAND — Rosemarie De Angelis, a former city councilor and mayor, was appointed to the city’s Civil Service Commission on Wednesday night over the objections of the city councilor who nominated her to fill the position.

The City Council voted 5-0 to appoint De Angelis to fill a commission seat that has been vacant for a year. She will serve through February 2019, during a period when the commission is expected to review applicants for an open fire chief’s position and recommend a candidate to the council.

Councilor Eben Rose, who was absent from the meeting, sent word that he wanted to postpone DeAngelis’ appointment, a motion that the council rejected.

De Angelis shared Rose’s objections to her appointment by reading several emails that he sent to her last weekend. Councilor Maxine Beecher said the emails sounded like “blackmail” after she heard them Wednesday night.

In the emails, Rose said he had “heard through the grapevine” that De Angelis, a Democrat who ran unsuccessfully for the House District 33 seat in 2014, was considering another run for the Legislature. Councilor Brad Fox, who is Rose’s friend and political associate, has said that he plans to run for the seat this year as a Democrat.

Rose said in the emails that he was concerned that if De Angelis ran while on the commission, it would create a perception of “overt partisanship” in her review of police and firefighter appointments and promotions. He asked her to confirm “that you are not intending to run … so that your nomination can go forward as planned, okay?”

When De Angelis said she had “made no plans at this moment” and expected the nomination to move forward, Rose pressed her again and again, even after she asked him to stop emailing her.

“Were these rumors false? Did you express interest in running then have a change of heart?” Rose wrote. “I would like some more binding assurance than ‘at this moment.’ This phrase makes me uneasy about your motivations where I wasn’t before. I need to hear definitively that you do not plan to run, at least for this election cycle, okay?”

De Angelis responded, “I am feeling harassed by your emails. I am in no violation of any of the requirements to have my name put forth for appointment. I have all the qualifications and have no issues that prohibit me from appointment. The rest of your questions are not relative to this appointment and I feel you are badgering me … I am a qualified candidate for appointment and will do a respectable job in the role. Please put my name forth on Wednesday as has been planned.”

Councilors chastised Rose’s action against De Angelis, noting that there’s no ordinance or policy that bars a commissioner from serving as a legislator. Mayor Tom Blake said he thought Rose was “entirely wrong” in threatening to withdraw his nomination of De Angelis.

Councilor Claude Morgan went further, saying that Rose’s emails “sickened” him.

“This is clearly a quid pro quo,” Morgan said, explaining that the Latin phrase means “this for that.” He added that Rose’s emails smacked of “old cronyism politics” and he described DeAngelis as “infinitely qualified” for the commission.

Councilor Fox also voted for De Angelis’ appointment, though he questioned how Rose’s opposition to her running for the Legislature could be construed as a favor for friend.