In the early days of Bingham Canyon, he who struck it rich was said to have struck pay dirt.  Those miners would take a mule, shovel, pick and dynamite along with a drill bit and double jack and work hundreds of hours drilling, blasting and shoveling.  With a combination of hard work and little bit of luck a miner might find a rich vein of gold silver of copper ore.  This was “dirt” that paid him money or pay dirt.  Striking pay dirt symbolizes a successful miner.  Because of this, Bingham High School’s Hall of Fame is called the Pay Dirt Club.   

A Utah native, Rebecca Chavez-Houck holds a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication and a Master of Public Administration (MPA), both from the University of Utah.

Rebecca has represented the constituents of Utah House District 24 since 2008. She serves as co-chair of the House Ethics Standing Committee. Other committee assignments include the House Health & Human Services and Government Operations Standing Committees; HHS and Revenue and Taxation Interim Committees, and Social Services Appropriations Subcommittee.

Rebecca’s 25 years of professional experience in non-profit administration and public affairs includes positions with Centro de la Familia de Utah, Utah Public Employees’ Association, Girl Scouts of Utah, Hal Gardiner Public Relations and the Utah Museum of Natural History. She began her career as a reporter/photographer for the Uinta County Herald in Evanston, Wyoming, where she covered the Uinta County Court System, Evanston City Police, and Uinta County Social Services. Rebecca has also cultivated another career as an activist and volunteer for myriad local nonprofit groups including: Intermountain Healthcare, Envision Utah, YWCA, KRCL Community Radio, Planned Parenthood Action Council, Utah State Democratic Party, ACLU, Plan-B Theatre Company, Utah AIDS Foundation, HEAL Utah, and the United Way of Salt Lake.