Fierce debate erupted at the City Council meeting Tuesday night over the prospect of granting Club Majestic a liquor license, but the fundamental issue had little to do with the club itself.

While negotiating the terms of his liquor license with the Alcohol Licensing and Review Committee, Nick Schiavo, owner of Café Continental and the future Club Majestic, agreed to place security cameras both inside and outside the club and to turn footage over to Madison police at their request.

Bars that currently have liquor licences requiring security cameras include Madison’s at 119 King Street, The King Club at 114 King Street, and the University Square Theatres.

Janet Rehbein, owner of Janski’s, 2526 E. Washington Ave., who agreed to city requests to install security cameras in her bar, believes the city is overstepping its bounds. “Having the cameras should be a choice,” Rehbein said. “It’s just another way of big brother telling us what to do.”

Ald. Kent Palmer, District 15, said he believes “owners use cameras to protect themselves” and remove themselves from liability.

But while a significant number of bar owners desire to have security cameras in their bars in order to guard against employee theft, “bar owners do not want to look heavy-handed” in the eyes of their employees, Palmer added.

Ald. Todd Jarrell, District 8, said the city government must make up its mind whether or not to implement cameras in all bars.

“There is no specific policy that has been set forth in the city of Madison,” Jarrell said.

While the video-taping provision is technically a voluntary provision for new liquor licenses introduced to the ALRC, Jarrell and Ald. Brenda Konkel, District 2, agree it is yet another obstacle in the way of for those attempting to secure a downtown liquor license.

Without an endorsement from the University of Wisconsin chancellor’s office — support granted almost conditionally upon the inclusion of security cameras — obtaining a liquor license downtown is nearly impossible, Jarrell and Konkel said.

Derek Suemnicht, manager of the Nitty Gritty, said the question of security cameras in bars is “a privacy issue.”

While the management of the Nitty Gritty has cameras in its establishment, Suemnicht claims they are only in two areas — at the bar, in order to keep an eye on employee theft, and at the front door, to prove to the police they consistently check the identification of patrons.

While the Nitty Gritty is under no obligation to turn over any security footage to Madison police, it has done so on occasion in order to help solve crimes that occurred inside the bar, including stolen wallets and credit card fraud.

“With the police’s help, we were able to identify the criminals,” Suemnicht said.

Suemnicht said he is suspicious of the ALRC’s policy, which designates having security cameras accessible to police as voluntary, due to the amount of sway the UW chancellor’s office and the Madison Police Department hold. Both organizations are in favor of security cameras.

“Many bars might be hesitant to fight it,” Suemnicht said. “They might want to throw a bone to the university.”