While Menino has a very high approval rating, he is not without critics.

Perhaps the most contentious issue of the mayor’s tenure has been development and planning in Boston, ranging from City Hall Plaza to the municipal harbor.

The development-oriented Alliance of Boston Neighborhoods (ABN) takes a strong stance that the power structure is askew.

“The BRA [the state-appointed Boston Redevelopment Authority, which is autonomous from the city] has usurped the planning power of the city and we have no real recourse,” says Shirley Kressel, the president of the ABN. “This is the time to look at the mayor and his relation to this development.”

But despite its disapproval of the current development, the ABN will not endorse Davis-Mullen.

“We don’t have a position in the Boston mayoral race,” Kressel says.

Aside from those angry over development, speculation has it that a challenger could win important votes from the mayor among unions and city employees.

Boston teachers had a long and difficult negotiation this past October, while its firefighters are in the midst of a protracted effort to hammer out a contract with the city.