Zack Stalberg to Leave Philadelphia for New Mexico

Stalberg, the former Daily News editor and head of the Committee of 70, is decamping to New Mexico to "be a boy." He's never really lived outside Philly.

Zack Stalberg is leaving Philadelphia.

Stalberg, the former Daily News editor and head of elections-watchdog group the Committee of 70, announced this morning he’s leaving the organization to move to New Mexico. He had been in charge of the Committee since 2005. Previously, he was editor of the Daily News for 20 years.

“I spent 45 years in two similar high wire acts, which seems like plenty to me,” Stalberg said in the most esoteric of the many quotes sent out in a press release. “As the Redford character says at a point in The Electric Horseman, ‘I have just retired from public life.’” There is no word if Stalberg will travel across the country as Robert Redford’s character did in the 1979 film (on a $12 million electric horse stolen from a cereal company).

For posterity, here are the other Stalberg quotes in the release:

  • “The decision is a purely personal one. But I would not mind if it caused other members of the permanent establishment in this town to think about giving way to a younger and more change-oriented set of players.”
  • 
“Deb and I will be going west, where I have always wanted to be. Like many before me, I am seeking renewal. And a good cutting horse.”
  • 
“When Teddy Roosevelt set off on an adventure at a ripe age, he said, ‘I have to do it. It’s my last chance to be a boy.’
”
  • “That’s how I feel.”

So … yeah, maybe he is going to steal a $12 million horse.

Stalberg and his wife, Deb Lock Stalberg, are said to be leaving for New Mexico “soon.” Aside from two years of service in the U.S. Army, Stalberg has never lived outside Philadelphia. Wait until he learns they don’t have soft pretzels there! (Note: Actually, they might have soft pretzels there.)

“As Zack heads into retirement, his fingerprints are embedded in Seventy’s mission and its drive toward long-term sustainability,” Mike Carbone, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Committee of Seventy and TD Bank regional president, said in the release. “I have enjoyed working with Zack and will miss him. We thank him and wish him well.”

[Committee of 70]