Mat-Su Assembly candidate fired from UAA police force after workplace misconduct investigation

What you need to know:

• Chris Chiavetta, a Republican candidate for Mat-Su Borough Assembly District 1, was demoted and later fired from the University of Alaska Anchorage police force following investigations into his workplace conduct. Chiavetta has highlighted his law enforcement background as part of his campaign.
• Chiavetta appealed his demotion and firing in Anchorage Superior Court. The case is pending.
• A UAA investigation found Chiavetta created a hostile work environment through inappropriate sexual comments. He was later fired after sending a letter demanding that a witness retract what he said are false statements and pay him $100,000 or face a lawsuit.
• Short on time but need the local news scoop? Get free weekly news in your inbox for Mat-Su, from Mat-Su.

PALMER — A Mat-Su Borough Assembly candidate whose campaign includes references to his law enforcement experience was demoted and later fired from the University of Alaska Anchorage police force in 2025. 

Chris Chiavetta made comments that created a hostile work environment and then sent a threatening letter to a witness in the investigation into his behavior, according to university and court documents.

Chiavetta is a Republican candidate running for Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly District 1, which includes Butte, Sutton and the Wasilla-Fishhook area near Hatcher Pass. He was appointed to the borough platting board in early 2025, where he represents District 1.

Chiavetta appealed the demotion and firing in Anchorage Superior Court. The case is pending.

The demotion and later firing violated his constitutional rights because they denied him due process, Chiavetta said in an interview Tuesday. He said he is running for the assembly seat to ensure fair treatment for Mat-Su residents. 

“I want people to always be treated fairly,” he said. “If I was treated fairly, the facts of everything would have completely changed. I would have been able to present my side of the story.” 

Chiavetta’s campaign website says he is a “former police officer.” Chiavetta told a group of voters at a candidate forum in Palmer last month that he has “zero tolerance” for ethics violations among elected officials because of his past experience as a deputy sheriff.

“Law enforcement [for] 12 years — you work up the chain of command and you get the right information to the right people. Zero tolerance whatsoever,” he said at the forum.

Chiavetta joined the UAA police force in 2020 and was promoted to sergeant in 2023, according to documents he filed in his appeal. He previously served as a deputy sheriff in Pasco County, Florida. 

He was demoted to senior officer at UAA in 2024 following an internal university investigation that found he created a hostile environment based on sex by discussing his sexual experiences in Asia; made derogatory or inappropriate comments about women, including his wife and ex-wife; and showed a coworker an “overtly sexual” video, according to the documents. 

Chiavetta was fired from the force last year after he sent a letter in late 2024 to one of the witnesses in the hostile work environment investigation, demanding he retract statements Chiavetta said were false and defamatory and pay him $100,000 in retribution or face a lawsuit.

Chiavetta said the letter was a step allowed before filing a lawsuit. The firing was authorized by UAA Chancellor Cheryl Siemers and upheld by then UA President Pat Pitney, according to the documents.

Chiavetta, who is representing himself in the case, filed appeals to the court in February 2025 and October 2025. He is unable to find police work because the demotion and appeal were reported to the state’s police standards council, he said in a filing.

Chiavetta's appeals ask a judge to reverse his firing, reinstate him with back pay and order a new hearing on his demotion. In the appeals, he says he did not see the evidence against him, investigators did not interview his witnesses and an administrative law judge barred him from challenging the finding that led to his firing. They also argue the letter to the witness that triggered his firing was a lawful step before filing a lawsuit.

The court ordered the appeals to be combined into a single case in March 2026. Chiavetta requested he be reinstated to the force until the judge rules on the case. That request was denied in March by Anchorage Superior Court Judge Peter Ramgren. 

Chiavetta said that while he wants to fight the hostile work environment findings, a ruling by the state Office of Administrative Hearings prevents him from doing so. Instead, he can only appeal the process through which the investigations were conducted.

He said he plans to file a new lawsuit in federal court this week against 10 current and former university officials, alleging that the investigations that led to his firing and demotion violated his constitutional rights under the First and 14th amendments. The lawsuit will ask the court to award back pay and other damages, he said.

A related suit filed by the Northern Justice Project on behalf of UAA Police Officer Jessica Lamblez alleges UAA police officials denied her training opportunities, took away assignments training other officers and put her on solo night shifts as retaliation for her hostile work environment reports against Chiavetta, according to court documents.

That suit was originally filed in Anchorage Superior Court early this year, then moved to federal court at the request of university attorneys. The case is still pending.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com

This story was edited Sept. 30 to clarify that the demand letter sent to an investigation witness asked the witness to correct statements Chiavetta said were false, and to correct the court in which Chiavetta intends to file a new lawsuit.