Committee of 70 leader riding into the sunset of his watchdog career

Philadelphia’s Committee of 70 will soon have a new leader as its president and CEO is retiring.Zack Stalberg took over the reins of the Committee of 70 nearly a decade ago after a 35-year run in journalism, including 20 years as editor of the Philadelphia Daily News. Now is the time to retire from the elections watchdog organization and leave town, he said.

“I had great fun doing this, but it just felt the right time to go out and do something completely different,” Stalberg said. “The fact that the political landscape hardly ever changes in Philadelphia was probably a factor in that, but the big reasons are personal.”

Stalberg plans to move to New Mexico where he intends to buy a second horse and enjoy life. He admits, though, that he will be only semi-retired. 

“I’ve spent my life in Philadelphia, life turned in a couple different ways that enabled me to do it, so I wanted to do something wildly different,” he said Tuesday. “So here we go … I like an adventure.”

No replacement for Stalberg has been named. He will leave at the end of July.`