The accolades began with committee Chairman Steve Murphy. “I think the governor made the best possible choice that he could make,” gushed the Red Wing DFLer. “I believe you’re one of the best commissioners that he’s ever appointed.”

The top Republican on the committee, Michael Jungbauer, praised Sorel for his communication skills. “What I’ve really seen since you’ve been here is that coming together as a team,” said the East Bethel Republican. “I’m really excited to have you on board.”

This was a far cry from the scene at the Capitol just under a year ago when Democrats ousted Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau as the state’s top transportation official. Molnau had been under fierce criticism since the Aug. 1, 2007, collapse of the 35-W Bridge and was kicked to the curb by a 44-22 party-line vote.

Sorel didn’t receive praise from everyone on the committee, however. “I’ve been on this committee 18 years, I believe,” said Sen. Dick Day, a Republican from Owatonna. “I’ve never met the commissioner. So I don’t think his communication [skills] are all that great — in dealing with me anyway.”

Despite this sour note, the committee voted unanimously (Day included) to back Sorel’s confirmation.

In fact, managing public perception is a central concern of Sorel’s, judging by articles he and others have written on his Utah work. In a 2004 piece that he authored, Sorel puts purposeful PR firmly among the prerequisites for the success of big transportation projects. One such project, Utah’s massive I-15 highway rebuild (for which Sorel led the Major Projects Team) required a PR plan in its request for design-build proposals, just like the I-35W bridge. A separate report on “Marketing Mega Projects and Public Trust,” which he cites, credits Sorel — who seems to be a social as well as literal engineer — with the concept that “quantitative measures …to gauge public trust” are “paramount” for transportation megaprojects.  Gaining public trust requires honesty and forthrightness — the very qualities Sorel admires in the PR for a highway project in Colorado. There, what could have been a devastating tale about the extermination of 50 prairie dogs to make way for a road for humans instead turned into a feel-good story about people not killing 100 other, luckier prairie dogs. It’s a win-win for both species. Do the math.