The incumbent mayor was indisposed. (incumbent: sitting, serving, current; indisposed: unwell, ailing, ill) In the interim, her deputy faced a contentious agenda. (interim: interval, meantime, intervening period; contentious: controversial, disputed, divisive; agenda: program, plan, schedule) A concessionaire wanted him to accede to an extension in accordance with an unsigned agreement. (accede: consent, assent, agree; accordance: conformity, compliance, agreement) The mayor's signature, the man insisted, was an inconsequential formality, one that would expedite a lucrative project. (inconsequential: unimportant, insignificant, trivial; expedite: accelerate, hasten, facilitate; lucrative: profitable, remunerative, moneymaking)
The clerk pointed out a catch-22. (catch-22: circular dilemma, no-win predicament, double bind) The committee could only approve a signed agreement, while the acting mayor could only sign an approved one. Did that necessitate another month's delay? (necessitate: require, demand, make essential) The incumbent had faced the same conundrum the year before. (conundrum: puzzle, enigma, perplexity) Her file contained two sheets.
One was a proposal to put the agreement before the committee. The other was the agreement itself, contingent on that vote. (contingent: conditional, dependent, qualified) The clerk supplied two fresh sheets. The mayor signed the first. At the public hearing two neighbors dissented, a boundary moved and the second signature bought a much better playground.