A senior Detroit Department of Transportation official received a significant raise after the city’s watchdog recommended discipline, while the agency’s former chief safety officer was suspended twice and fired after cooperating with the same investigation.
Superintendent of Operations Howard Bragg III is now making $100,000, up from $86,986 in 2025, according to records provided to Metro Times.
Bragg received the raise in February, less than two months after the Detroit Office of Inspector General concluded he abused his authority and recommended that he be disciplined.
The city has declined to say whether Bragg was ever disciplined. Sources inside DDOT tell Metro Times he was never suspended.
In its Dec. 22 final report, the OIG found that Bragg failed to properly investigate serious misconduct by two DDOT employees who disrupted service and abandoned a running city bus to have what investigators described as “romantic interactions” while on duty. The watchdog said Bragg classified their conduct as a Class IV offense, the most serious category under DDOT’s disciplinary system, but still imposed lenient penalties that were inconsistent with department policy. The OIG also found that Bragg failed to seek out or review available surveillance video before issuing discipline.
The OIG concluded that Bragg “abused his authority” and recommended “discipline for Superintendent Bragg for failing to conduct a proper investigation as part of his supervisory duties, and failing to...
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