Jon Tester, the newly elected US Senator from Montana went to the gym at 11:45am on Monday, February 12, 2007. At 2:00pm, the Senator met with Tom France of Missoula.
 
Senator Tester mounted a campaign for the US Senate two years ago when all he could have talked about was Iraq. Instead, he talked about other issues. Specifically, transparency in government and with himself.
 
I have many conversations with elected officials about transparency in government…including how far they are willing to go to be transparent themselves. I often ask elected officials why not make their schedule more accessible to the public? Most cringe at the idea. Senator Tester does not. He places his entire schedule, personal and professional, on his website.
 
In the coming weeks he will list everything he does everyday: people he meets with, when he eats, and every event he attends. This assumes his scheduler and webmaster can keep up. Senator Tester gets an “A” (so far) on my transparency test.