Alberto Gutier, who worked in Arizona politics for decades, died Saturday.
Gutier served as the the director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety for over 20 years before retiring in November 2022. Gutier worked alongside seven Arizona governors, from Bruce Babbitt to Doug Ducey.
ABC15 spoke to Gutier in October 2023 following his retirement. Hear from him in the player above.
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 told ABC15 in 2023.