Even the subcommittee’s chairman, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) — head of the fiscally conservative House Freedom Caucus and not exactly a fawning public transit advocate — declared that he was “a huge fan” of Wiedefeld.

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But Meadows also had a big criticism of the Metro executive: “A $400,000 video,” the lawmaker said, “was not well-timed.”

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Meadows was talking about a promotional video commissioned by Metro last year to ballyhoo its “Back2Good” program and make the case that SafeTrack construction work would result in real improvements for riders.

The dramatic video (featuring slow-motion panning camera shots and a soaring musical score befitting an epic World War II movie trailer) was part of a promotional campaign that included advertisements on television, radio, YouTube and movie theaters, as well as in newspapers.

The total media package came out to about $400,000, though the video itself cost less than $100,000 to produce. Customers questioned whether the money should have been spent elsewhere.

Meadows, too, expressed doubts.

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“I’m just saying that when you look at a “Back2Good” video and you’re spending those kinds of dollars, when you’re not back to good yet — your marketing people anticipated in a way that they shouldn’t have,” Meadows said.

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“Maybe check with us next time,” he added.

After the hearing, Wiedefeld acknowledged that the video may have been a misstep.