PHOENIX — You may not know who Alberto Gutier is, but if you've driven on any of Arizona's freeways it's hard not to think of his simple words of wisdom, "Drive Hammered, Get Nailed."
"I enjoy retirement in a sense," Gutier said, "I can get up at 9 o'clock if I want to."
Gutier retired last November as the Director of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety, a position he first held during the Jane Hull administration. In all, Gutier worked for seven Arizona governors, from Bruce Babbitt to Doug Ducey.
The string broke when Governor Janet Napolitano was elected. "I went back with Governor Brewer and that's the way it was. And of course, I ended up with Governor Ducey," he explained.
Born in Cuba, Gutier first came to the U.S. in the late 1950s as a student attending the University of Florida. He returned to Cuba shortly, taking a job with Cubana Airlines where he later transferred to New York.
Gutier and his wife became U.S. citizens in 1966. But it was in 1964 when Gutier first heard about an Arizona senator that led him and his family to move to Phoenix.
"My wife and I went to the opening remarks of the draft Barry Goldwater Committee. I still have some of the brochures from the draft Barry Goldwater committee for President of the United States. So when I came to Arizona in 1968 I was a Goldwater guy."
Gutier soon became immersed in Arizona's political scene, serving as a Republican Party committeeman for 50 years.
He was a delegate to five national conventions, a Seargeant-at-Arms for the Arizona Republican Party for 11 terms and a presidential elector for Arizona in 2016.
His home documents it all... from his time in Cuba to pictures with governors, senators and presidents. It was a time when civility reigned, a time Gutier fears may have passed us by.
"The public has to be looking over these contradictions and attacking each other and say, enough okay. People would ask me, what's your take? To get things done you got to get along. That's my take," Gutier said.
These days Alberto Gutier is passing along sage advice to motorists. His rules of the road are now life lessons he shares with 14 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren.
"Obedience, loyalty and do what you are told, okay, and compromise. Imagine that." Words we can all live by.
